overpairs on flop - how much do you bet?

[montauk]

hi all, id probably be better off posting this in a hand history thing, but can't convert from the poker site i use so, here's the general question.

You raise with QQ-AA pre flop, get 2 callers and are first to act on the flop with overpairs on a non-threatening board.

In a couple of hands I have raised the pot, only to be called with opponents with 1 overcard, and on another occasion with a flush draw. Both these times I raised the pot half my money was in the pot, while half was still in my stack.

Do I need to AI my JJ-AA on the flop to stop chasers with overpairs? Or is a pot sized bet standard? Even if they are chasers, should i mind since i have pot odds significantly in my favour.

thanks.

[zerogrinder]

This is a very common situation in no limit holdem, and I would say that when you are up against drawing hands such as flush- and straight draws, the most important thing is to make sure the pot odds they are getting are unfavorable. This often means a bet that is from 1/2 a pot to a full pot size. I usually bet about 2/3 of the pot, which seems more innocent than a full pot size bet. You must consider a reasonable size bet so that weaker hands like top- and middle pairs, draws, or overcards will call you with insufficient pot odds.
While being outdrawn a few times in a row can be frustrating You don't need to push all in with your overpairs, because essentially your opponents are making a mistake when they are calling your bet (and those mistakes are where the profit comes from, so you actually want them to call with unfavorable odds.. I'm sure you have understood the mathematical principle behind pot odds, so I will not get into that here).
This reply is more reassurance than anything else. Keep betting small enough to get called, but high enough to force your opponents to make mistakes. And as a last word of warning - make sure that you are able to lay down your big overpairs on later streets when scare cards hit and/or you are faced with untypical extreme aggression. Sometimes your foes will complete their draws or you are up against a slowed set or two pair etc. So don't create implied odds for your opponents by always playing your one big pair to the bitter end. Hope this helps and good luck.

Zero

[AKQJ10]

[ QUOTE ]

Do I need to AI my JJ-AA on the flop to stop chasers with overcards? Or is a pot sized bet standard? Even if they are chasers, should i mind since i have pot odds significantly in my favour.

[/ QUOTE ]

Assuming that's a typo (overpairs doesn't make any sense given the context), you should certainly NOT be pushing all in to chase draws out. In general you want draws to get improper odds to call, but call anyway. See GSIH and NLHE:TAP for more on this concept.

[PokrLikeItsProse]

There's no requirement that you have to bet the flop in this spot, and sometimes you should consider checking, even if a flush draw is possible, just to set up that a check on the flop doesn't necessarily mean weakness.