Explanation of Overcard

The term “overcard” describes a card being higher in rank with relation to another card (or group of cards). Here are two common examples.

Example 1 – In Hold’em we have a big pair preflop (JJ) and the flop texture comes down as KQx. We could describe this by saying that there are two “overcards” on the flop.

Example 2 – We have AQo and the flop comes down 952 rainbow. We could describe this by saying “we flopped naked overcards”.

Example of Overcard used in a sentence -> We got the money in with our pocket Queens and really hoped that the board wouldn’t bring any overcards.

How to Use Overcard as Part of Your Poker Strategy 

When flopping a pair in Hold’em, it’s vulnerability often depends on how many overcards might fall on the later streets. Lower pairs are more susceptible to being outdrawn since there are simply more overcards that can hit. A high pair such as Queens however is less vulnerable to being outdrawn since there are only two overcards that can potentially give our opponent a higher pair, i.e. the Ace and the King.

See Also 

Flop, Protection, Hold’em, Pair, Hand Rankings

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