Problem hand "overcards"

[Chris Villalobos]

These hands always give me trouble in online 5handed games (5/10 or 3/6).

Suppose I raise with AK AJ AQ or KQ and get called by a aggressive player with position. Now the flop comes middle cards or trash. I bet and get raised. Now it will cost me 5 Small Bets (SB) to showdown and I'll have a chance to win 11 SBs. I used to play this by folding if I didn't improve, but found that I was getting bluffed on the river by high-card hands, these guys just won't give up if they see weekness. Now I've come to the conclusion that I have to check and call these down since sometimes and Ace will win the pot. Maybe check raise if I improve.

It's really tough to get a line on some of these players because I usually am up against unknowns.

Can anyone suggest improvements to my strategy? One thing in need to consider is the texture of the flop, but I haven't got that far yet.

Chris V

[Azhrarn]

You need to mix up your play. Here are a couple of stratagies I use:

Check the flop. If he bets, checkraise him. As long as he doesn't 3-bet, lead the turn. If he checks, lead the turn. This seems to yield better information about the strength hand than betting into him. Obviously you don't want to do this every time, but it's a good change-up. You should also do this sometimes when you actually have a hand.

Or, after you bet into him on the flop and he raises you, if you suspect he's bluffing, call his bet and then checkraise him on the turn. You could also three-bet him on the flop and lead the turn, but I like the turn checkraise better because a) turn bets are taken more seriously than flop bets, b) it gives him a chance to check behind on the turn and reveal the strength of his cards. Even if you get called down and lose, if your opponent knows you are capable of checkraising the turn with an ace high, they'll be less inclined to mess with you. They'll also be more inclined to pay you off when you have a hand.

That's just a couple of ideas. Basic points to remember: 1) Don't be too predictable, 2) it's better to be the agressor, and 3) checkraising is your best weapon against enemies with position.

[all_aces]

[Chris Villalobos]

Thanks for the advice. I usually save my check-raises for times when the turn brings me a straight or flush draw added to my overcards, but those situations don't seem to come often enough. I'll start mixing it up a bit more and see what happens.

Chris V