The Flop Misses.....Now what????

Hello all......I hope everyone will bear with a newbie for a bit. I've been reading/studying SSHE....I have also read and reread parts of LLHE by Lee
Jones.......so in other words, I'm trying, I'm trying.

I've read a few times in this forum and in other places that the strategy of
"fit or fold" is bad. My problem is that as a beginner, I'm only playing the
top EV hands in most situations.....but what happens the great majority of the
time is that the flop completely misses me. The cannonical situation is I have AKo in early or middle position, I've dutifly raised/reraised the preflop....then
93Jr hits on the flop......since I'm usually the preflop raiser....it gets checked to me......In general should I check or raise? What if someone bets in front of me. What I notice in the microlimits is that the vast majority of pots are being taken down by Q9o and stuff like that.....somebody bets in front of me and very often they HAVE at least top pair....or T8 and are trying for a SD....shouldn't the optimal strategy for microlimits be different given what my opponents routinely play?????

This doesn't really seem to be addressed in SSHE much. Am I supposed to count outs here? I have 2 overcards. Those are worth what, .5 outs a piece?
In LLHE, he says "fold and be done with it". But here on this forum, in lots
of posted hands, people continue, and everyone agrees this is correct. Can someone give me a pointer or a previous thread to read on what to do here.

It sure is hard to fold that AK after I've raised and reraised the preflop. Maybe that's just the cost of doing business.

You guys are great for putting up with my beginner posts so far! I hope to someday return the favor to other newbies.

Jim

[macdaddy991]

The section on playing overcards in SSHE is very good. FWIW, overcards are difficult, there is no set path you take with them. Always betting UI overcards and always folding UI overcards are both mistakes.

If the flop misses, it's checked to you in a multiway pot, and the pot is small, take the free card. If the turn misses you and someone bets into you, the pot is now doubly small, it's an easy fold. Fit or fold is not insane, it's just that Miller is stressing to take the pot size into account. 3rd pair beats ace high, and in a small pot, it's not paying you enough to chase.

If you want find out more on playing AK, search it up. I punched in AKo and pulled up 200+ posts in the last month alone.

Here's one from searching "AK misses" (use quotes for exact match).

[shant]

There are really so many variables here like reads, tables conditions, image, the pot, etc that no one can really help yu very much unless you post a specific hand and include this type of information.

I would reccomend reading the overcards section of SSH a couple times and also browse the archives and look for hands where people are asking for help with overcards.

One thing to keep in mind is that the flop usually misses most players, so it should be no surprise when it misses your hand more often then not. If you bet out before the flop, you should raise when the post flop betting is checked to you. If you find that there are too many players still in the pot then increase the amount that you raise preflop. You table image is probably conservative, so the other players will put you on a high pair or two high cards, most likely. Use that to your advantage when you make the bet.

[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]

Ooops....what an idiot......I forgot about that section in SSHE.........thank you
I'll read and study it some more!

Jim