Overboard overpairs

You’ve been sitting patiently waiting for a decent hand for what seems like an eternity. Finally you look down and see pocket Kings. At this point you are already starting to work out how much money you can cream from the suckers at your table. A double-up would be great here. There’s no way I’m folding these beauties!

However, this mindset is a way to ensure you’ll often win small pots and sometimes lose huge pots. Big pairs are very powerful hands and should make you good money over the long term. By all means raise them up pre-flop and re-raise if you get the opportunity – but be careful, as many people get caught out holding premium pairs.

So, when should we look to extract maximum value for what we think is the best hand, and when should we slow down and avoid committing too many chips to a one-pair hand? The board texture is obviously very important, as is your read on your opponent. What many fail to consider, however, is what your opponent’s read is on you. This is vital when playing any hand but it becomes even more so when playing overpairs.

WHEN TO BET FOR VALUE

Let’s say you’re playing in a six-handed $2/$4 no-limit hold’em cash game. Everyone has full stacks. You’ve been very active, raising a lot of hands with a wide range and continuation-betting often. You pick up K?-K? under the gun and raise to your standard $14 and get a call from Joe on the button. He’s playing okay although fairly tight. He doesn’t usually re-raise unless he has Q-Q+ or A-K.

The flop comes down 2?-J?-Q?. You bet $28 into the pot of $34 and Joe calls. There’s no point in slow-playing overpairs, especially when both players are deep-stacked. His call indicates he has connected with the flop somehow.

The turn is the 9?. You bet $68 into $90 and Joe calls. To slow down now would be suicide on such a draw-heavy board. It’s very unlikely Joe holds K-10 given his tight style. The fact that Joe hasn’t raised on this draw-heavy board should give you some confidence that K-K is still good. You would think that Joe would be raising J-J/J-Q at this point.

The river is the 8?, making the board 2?-J?-Q?-9?-8?. You bet $115 into $226 and Joe calls. Joe tables A-Q and you win the $456 pot. Although the river is a very scary card, which gives any 10 the straight and also fills a backdoor flush, you have to bet the river here.

The backdoor flush isn’t very likely here and the chances of Joe holding a 10 are slim other than Q-10/J-10. A lot of players will happily check here hoping to make a cheap showdown but I think value-betting here is the right play. Q-10 is unlikely, as is J-Q. J-10 is possible but so are A-Q, K-Q and diamond flush draws with the Jack.

To sum up, you shouldn’t assume that somebody has hit a draw unless you meet more than light resistance in a hand. You could bet for value on every street of this hand with the knowledge that you are regarded as a loose/ aggressive player. In that case Joe could have probably thought that top pair was in front, at least until the river. And for $115 more he is almost obliged to call.

KEY POINT

On a relatively safe board against a tight opponent who hasn’t re-raised pre-flop you should be looking to bet an overpair for value on every street – but you must take into account your image in their eyes

WHEN TO SLOW DOWN

This time, you are playing in a $3/$6 six-handed game. On your right is a very aggressive player called Phil. He’s by far the worst player at the table and he likes to gamble. He’s been raising any two cards and will call re-raises lightly. You have been playing a patient TAG style waiting to bust him and eventually you pick up K?-K? on the button.

When Phil raises to $18 you smile to yourself and stick in a re-raise, but only to $45 as you don’t want to scare him off. He calls, and the flop is Q?-J?-8?. After Phil checks you lead out for $80 into a $99 pot and are instantly re-raised to $160. You call, making the pot $419.

At this point you’re in trouble, and let’s look at why. For a start, your re-raise pre-flop was way too small. All you are doing there is giving Phil the odds to call with any of his raising range, thereby not defining his range at all. Then on the flop you make quite a large bet. You’re right to be worried about draws, because even though the flop isn’t massively connected you don’t want to give away free cards. But when you are check- raised it’s a tough decision.

Would he really be check-raising a tight player here without a hand that beats top pair? You are way behind to Q-J, Q-8, J-8, J-J, Q-Q, A-A, 8-8 and 9-10, all of which are possibilities given Phil’s previous hands. As such I would reluctantly fold here as the only range I could assign to Phil where he would possibly check-raise with a worse hand would be A-Q, K-Q and if he was playing really loosely, 10-K, A-K and A-J. Anything else just seems unlikely.

The turn is the 8? and Phil bets $200, leaving only $200 behind. You call. The turn isn’t actually a bad card for you as it counterfeits J-Q and also might make Phil think twice. The fact that you called the flop re-raise almost commits you to calling Phil’s turn bet. If I had the choice I would actually prefer a shove to the call on the turn as the call is committing you to the hand anyway.

The river is the 10? making the board Q?-J?-8?-8?-10?. Phil is all-in for $200 and you reluctantly call, as you are pot-committed by this point. You can be pretty certain you are behind but the odds are simply too good. Phil shows J?-8? and wins a $1,200+ pot.

This hand shows how it’s very easy to get caught up in a hand with an overpair and end up screaming at the screen when your K-K is beaten by J-8. Many players will go diving in headfirst with overpairs and not even bother to stop and look at what’s going on.

KEY POINT

You should recognise when the texture of the board is telling you that you are beaten. Laying down big pairs when beaten is just as important as gaining big pots with them when ahead

LOWER OVERPAIRS

What if your overpair is not as strong as K-K? What if you have 10-10 on a lowish, textured board in a multi-way pot? Let’s say you make a pre-flop raise in the small blind and get two callers. The flop comes 7?-5?-4? and you bet the full pot only to see both players calling. Again you are left in no man’s land, not knowing what you’re up against. There are very few good turn cards for you, as A, K, Q and J all give overcards and 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 all give straight or set possibilities – not to mention the fact that any club could fill a flush. I’m not saying you’re not miles ahead of hands like 9-9 or A-7, but you must be very wary as this is a spot where it’s easy to lose a very big pot by being blind to the reality of the situation.

In general, you should be making good money from overpairs. Don’t slow-play them unless you have a good read because you will invariably get caught out and end up trapping yourself. Bet them with confidence until you face a call or a raise by an opponent, or until a really draw-heavy board forces you to stand back and re-evaluate your hand.

Finally, never fall into the trap of assuming your hand is the winner. After all, how many big cash-game pots do you see being won by a single pair other than all-in pre-flop hands? Not many I’ll bet.