Most Overplayed Hands In No Limit Holdem

Most Overplayed Hands In No Limit Holdem!!

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Josh1313 Nibs: 59,758 Member Since: Jan 3rd 2006

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Most Overplayed Hands In No Limit Holdem!!!

Most people would suggest that marignal hands such as KJ, KQ, J10 or middle pairs are the most overplayed especially by amateur players becuase they are often dominated. Players call this hands for raises in position and out of position and often lose alot of money because of it.

This is very true on many respects for rookie players and strong players alike but many players over play these hands just becuase they are unable to fold post flop when they hit a single pair.  This is more a mistake of understanding what your opponents might be holding and an uwillingness to fold.  The same could be said for a weak player that is holding 78 on a 248 board.

The hands I would like to talk about are considered by many players to be much bigger hands and ones that I find are very over played both preflop and on the flop by way to many players.  I am refering to hands like JJ, AQ and AK.  To many players are willing to risk all of there chips with these hands preflop for any amount and in any situation.

AK and AQ are drawing hands and yes are only dominated by KK, AA and QQ if holding AQ but are coin flips against all other pairs and only dominating A weak which will in many cases not be moving all in with many or any of these hands unless they are very short and that is best case scenario.

To often players see a raise and a reraise and are holding AK and just go ahead and put all their chips in the middle.  This is just a terrible play unless you have a dead on read of your opponents and you can be 100% certain that they are both holding underpairs.  That would be the only situation in which you are getting the right price to make the call.

The worst part about it is that even if you are in a coin flip situation likelly other players have folded an A, K or Q and you have less then 6 outs to make your hand.  I agree with reraising with AK or AQ to take a pot down but if you get reraised back then you need to rethink your hand and fold. More often then not the 3rd bet means AA or KK and at worst QQ and only 1 of those 3 hands you are a coin flip.  1 in 3 odds that you are only a marginal underdog is not a good situation to be in and should be a situation that you are looking to avoid.

In early position you should strongly consider folding AQ and limp in with AK.  And then look to play smaller pots post flop with these hands.  One pair on the the flop is not that strong of hand and you can often get into trouble then overplaying them becuase you have flopped a big pair.  You need to tread more causiously with these hands out of position and look to trap your opponents into paying you off.

Fold AK and AQ to raise reraise and look to get your chips in during a better situation. Yes these are stronger hands but you still need to hit something to make a hand.  They are in fact still drawing hands and are only 60-40 favourites or two other random cards which is not a significant advantage so remember this when your AK is out flopped by 75 when the flop comes A57 and you cant fold even though your opponent shows strength and you dont catch up.  Dont be that upset with your opponent, you probably could have saved some money on the hand had you slowed down and evaluated the hand better.

I am not suggesting that you fold AQ and AK or JJ preflop but consider your opponents and the situation and dont be afraid to fold these hands if the sitution warrants it.  Play your cards smart and you will end up on the better side of the math but remember AK, AQ and JJ are not invincible.

Comments (2)

Posted on Jul 14th 2008 by Dingus Being able to drop a hand that connects with the flop is one of the most underrated skills of holdem. Too many players get married to their hands and take them to the river only to see that they were holding 2nd best the entire time.

Posted on Jul 15th 2008 by PI_Viceroid good point, still imho all depends on how your opponent bet, your position, etc. Uou can win a hand with a marginal couple. You can actually get good pot odds to call for a river straight flush with J10... etc depends on the situation, opponent, stack, etc