[Fantam]

Hi Jim.

SSHE has a section on playing overcards, which explains things which you should consider very well. Also, I hope that you have the 3rd edition of LLHE, as it is very good and apparently much better than the 1st or 2nd edition.

I think that some of the things which you need to consider when playing overcards are:

1.How many opponents you have and how coordinated the flop is. (This affects the likelihood of improving to a winning hand.)

2.The size of the pot (and hence the odds you are receiving to improve your hand.)

3. Whether you have additional chances to improve your hand other than pairing, such as a back-door flush and/or straight draw.

4. Your position. For example, whether you will be closing the action if you call a bet in late position, because no one can raise behind you.

I would suggest that you post and reply to some hands here, as this should help to improve your understanding for playing awkward hands. (By the way you will pair either your A or K on the flop on average only about 1/3rd of the time.)

I hope that this helps and welcome to the forums. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]