Overcard Schooling
Schooling in Small Stakes Poker Games
You may have heard about the concept of "schooling" in loose holdem games. This is when a lot of people pay for bad draws making the draws less bad and sometimes even correct. Here's an example:
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| Flop |
Player 1
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Player 2
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Player 3
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Player 4
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Player 5
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Player 6 (Hero)
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In the above scenario AK is winning at the moment and AJ is unfortunately doomed to call him down. At a tight table these two hands will be heads up after this flop (if they raise each other) however lets assume that everyone calls. Player one has middle pair with a Q kicker, Player 2 has the low end of a gutshot straight draw, Player 4 has an underpair to the flop, Player 5 has a better, but different, gutshot straight draw.
If a 3 (2 outs), Q (3 outs), 7 (3 outs), 9 (4 outs), J (3 outs) comes on the turn the the hero is already behind. That's 15 outs where 9 of them have the AK drawing entirely dead with no idea that's the case. If a spade, heart, 4, 5, or T comes on the turn then the schooling players gain additional outs vs. the AK.
On the river if the AK is still ahead they will get one bet from AJ. If they are behind they will have to pay an additional bet (or fold to a non threatening looking board) which the AJ may also call.
As more hands are added to this mix additional draws become possible. The more people that school with non-overcard draws the better value each of their draws becomes.
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We have a list of online cardrooms with reviews and player ratings here. At small stakes (low limit) tables you can find overcard schooling happening even online. It is most prevalent in live small stakes poker games, though. |
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Overcard Schooling
In contrast to drawing at gutshot straight draws and the like (and above everyone has a "bad" draw to beat the AK, in a real hand many times there will be good draws as well as people who are already beating this hand with 2 pair + on the flop) there is what we're going to call "overcard schooling" which means a table where people are willing to chase hands with overcards only.
Lets take another example
Flop
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| Flop |
Player 1
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Player 2
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Player 3
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Player 4
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Player 5
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Player 6 (Hero)
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Even though there are 6 players in the hand, the 5 players besides the person with top pair only have the following total outs to improve:
Q (1), J(2), T(3), K(2) (8 outs, or the 5 players combined draw is about the same as an open-ended straight draw)
If there are more people chasing with overcards the odds of them improving continue to decline. For this reason if you find a table where you see people repeatedly call bets on the flop and especially on the turn with overcards only this is a huge mistake in a game where many people are seeing the flop. This effect combined with poison anchors makes calling bets with overcards a bad idea except under the most ideal conditions.
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In loose games (where five or more people pay to see the flop) it is almost always a bad idea to draw to overcards only. This is because your overcards may be poisoned (see Poison Anchors) or you may be contributing money to the pot while under a reverse schooling effect (the more people who draw with overcards the worse value each draw becomes). |
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So what are the ideal conditions? You should only call a bet with overcards if you believe there is a decent chance that the overcards themselves are the best hand at the moment. If you find yourself heads up holding AK and you know your opponent will bet into you holding any ace high hand then this would be a good opportunity to call (or better, raise) with overcards only.
