I keep losing to straights with my over pairs.
How do you look for straights on a board? I find this so difficult.
Obviously boards like 456 and 678 are dangerous and I'm not losing money to these because I'm able to fold.
What about boards like 468, 579, 457 and 568? These are boards I keep losing to because they aren't so obvious and well hidden straights.
Flushes are way easier to spot because all you are looking for is 3 of the same suit but a straight can be any 3 cards.
Any advice?

Bet harder pre to try to discourage drawing hands from calling, if they call and the flop comes like that then c-bet, see what they do and reassess your options.

You look for straights & flushes by betting and or re-raising with your over pair, proper bet sizing, paying attention to the other players & keeping notes also helps.

If you have overpairs, in the sense of AA KK or QQ, and these flops helped your opponent, increase your preflop bet sizing. Also, if they didn't flop them but made them on the turn or river, increase the amount you are charging for subsequent cards. If a guy calls getting 1:1 or 1:1.5 on an underdog draw, you profit in the long run. This is just some brief tips and ideas but good luck at the tables!

Realize too what type of game you're playing. Freerolls or low buy-in online, some people will chase just about anything so having an overpair really may not mean that much whatever you bet so you should be a bit careful. These games, you always should fear the river. Higher stakes, or a game the may mean something, you may get someone to fold with a big bet.

know your opponent and make them pay if they're chasing. Also, track how often it's really happening. You'll always remember the 'suck outs', but if you're winning more than you're losing, it may just be variance.

Say I have KK and the flop is 789 I usually bet 1/2 pot and see what they do from there because they can already have a straight. I play the same way with a paired flop and a suited flop because they could have trips or flush on those.

What I'm asking is what flops should I slow down betting on besides ones that count up like 345? What about flops like 468? Or 457? Or 467?

Originally Posted by thomasguy3419

Say I have KK and the flop is 789 I usually bet 1/2 pot and see what they do from there because they can already have a straight. I play the same way with a paired flop and a suited flop because they could have trips or flush on those.

What I'm asking is what flops should I slow down betting on besides ones that count up like 345? What about flops like 468? Or 457? Or 467?

It depends on the action. What was preflop action? If your opponents like drawing, punish them. 3/4 pot or full put. Make them make the mistakes.

Originally Posted by peddy.jr.85

It depends on the action. What was preflop action? If your opponents like drawing, punish them. 3/4 pot or full put. Make them make the mistakes.

I'm always raising preflop, never limping with KK but it don't matter because you always get those players that will call no matter how much you raise and they just happen to flop a straight here and there.
I'm not talking about when my opponent is drawing I mean when they flop a straight. Why bet 3/4 pot on a flop like 456 if I'm not committed to because they have a straight or make one by the river? The 1/2 pot bet is more of a feeler bet to see where I'm at when a flop like 456 hits. It's the same as a paired or suited flop, something I'm not committed to.
But what about flops like 468? Or 457? Or 467?

It gives them acceptable immediate pot odds and implied odds. 3/4 pot on the flop and 1 or 1.25 pot on a safe pot urn makes them make horrible calls. Check out David Sklansky holdem theory and practice

Be a bit more aggressive on the pre flop, it will avoid players that have hands like 68 or 97. Some might still go and hit them but it'll certainly be less often

My 2 cents :-)

Originally Posted by peddy.jr.85

It gives them acceptable immediate pot odds and implied odds. 3/4 pot on the flop and 1 or 1.25 pot on a safe pot urn makes them make horrible calls. Check out David Sklansky holdem theory and practice

If they are on a draw with a flop like 45J I will bet 3/4 pot to give them less odds.
But in this case they already have the straight on a flop of 456 so there are no odds and I don't think they are making a horrible call either. They can easily bluff you off the hand even if they don't have the straight but even if you think they are bluffing you still lose.

Really, there is nothing you can do. If people are going to call you down with a gut shot no matter how much you bet, some times they are going to win. The odds are going to even out and this type of play is a loser in the end, but it can hurt in the short term.

Just like a stopped watch is right twice a day, stupid wins all the time in poker, till they stop getting lucky.

If you have a big hand, keep playing big pots, and the math will even out.

You absolutely can't play big pairs like Phil Helmut anymore. You can't disguise them or you're going to get drawn out on a lot. You have to push big early and hope your opponent lays down draws.

Is it best to go all in on the flop with an over pair?

Nope

its annoying situation i also not always see the straights

Simple suggestion but important, always take a step back and re-look at the board to run through in your head what your opponent could have; full house, flush, straight, trips etc. Very easy to miss a trap if you just focus on what's in your hand.

Scokyl is right.

"Bet harder pre to try to discourage drawing hands from calling, if they call and the flop comes like that then c-bet, see what they do and reassess your options."

Hello if what you mean is to play your trios already made in one hand, you should avoid those situations since it is very likely that if they came to see the flop with a minimum bet, it is very likely that your opponent has the hand made in the Flop, and it will not be worth anything that we have tied a trio because his hand will overcome us. My advice is that if you get a pair of 9 down do not play it if the flop gives the project to ladder, I say this because having a pair of 10 yo in my case always increase up to 5 big blinds and only players with hands like AK They will see the flop, that is my advice. I hope you serve luck on the tables.

If you have a good card, make big bets preflop and do not let the players play 45 67 89 and your card will be okay

You have to bet more pre with your high pairs to prevent the low straights from getting a good price to call and draw out.

And then, with your lower pairs that are still overcards to a flop you have to treat them like having top pair top kicker.

So, for example, having 88 on a 345 board is kind of like having K5 in that situation. Sure bet for value and bet like you are ahead, but if you are raised a lot of things beat you, not just straights, and it is more likely the more players in the pot.

In essence the way to get away from a straight is to not put your opponent on a straight specifically. It is to say, I have one pair here, and two pair, a set, a straight beat me. The only thing I really beat that raises is a draw or a bluff or a crazy player... which is also possible but depends on the table dynamics and type of game.

There are no absolutes in Poker though. You will be beaten by straights. The trick is to just prevent the situation pre, and if that isn't possible, make better decisions to lose the minimum when you are beat post. So, for example, let's say you lose a buy-in every time you have overcards and someone has a straight. If you lose half a buy-in or even 3/4 next time it is progress. Through experience you learn when to get away more, especially with position and betting patterns.

Originally Posted by thomasguy3419

I keep losing to straights with my over pairs.
How do you look for straights on a board? I find this so difficult.
Obviously boards like 456 and 678 are dangerous and I'm not losing money to these because I'm able to fold.
What about boards like 468, 579, 457 and 568? These are boards I keep losing to because they aren't so obvious and well hidden straights.
Flushes are way easier to spot because all you are looking for is 3 of the same suit but a straight can be any 3 cards.
Any advice?

you should always be award of all the possibilities that the board can brings to your opponent. More important than that, you may be able to give ranges for your opponent depending on his status on de HUB( make sure to use a HUB to analise VPIP, PFR, cbet...) and depending as well from were he is opening. For exemple you can give a pretty close range if your opponent has a tight status and are opening from UTG. other else if you let them play the big blind for free you can expect any card to showdown.

Start try to put the villain in ranges and you will see that is easy to play and know with through all the history of the hand you villain is really playing with a suit connector or a small pocket pair.

THOMASGUY.... Hi...hope you are getting more joy following the advice in your thread.

What game are you playing in these situations....as that can sometimes influence how people play.

For example, if its a freeroll, then people are more likely to call your big bets and hope for the best as they have nothing to lose.

In cash games, smaller limit players will do pretty much the same.

The higher the limits, the more cautious players may be....but then that allows for aggression from them too, to scare you when you make a big raise and they come over the top with bluffing or drawing hands.

The most important thing to remember is poker is about probability...... try not to give other players the odds to justify their call on a draw. If they have hit already, then you are doomed anyway!

Second most important thing, is dont play YOUR cards. Play the situation, which means consider everything about the hand and the game and the tourney and the players etc.

Good luck.

Bentley Boy

The main advantage is preflop 4-5 beta, and not give free cards

In many limits MTT you can see players calling anything. But the srategy is a strong bet preflop, but remember the main reason is get the opponents chips... is a difficult situation but may avoid some fish players.

I just lost to a straight this morning. I was getting down to 12 BB or so, and tourney was moving into mid-late phase so I needed to move all in soon. I had 44 and hit trips on 456 flop. There was no way I was going to fold. We got it all in through re raises and I was hoping he had an over pair, AA would have been good. But no, he had the straight turned over 78. I just think I couldn't have gotten away from that. You can't play that safe online in a fast micro tourney so I think I just have to live with it and hope for better luck next time.