I've read SSHE on the section about overcards and evaluating various situations - which I understand. It's just that I feel like it's a waste of BB to bet the flop and every street afterwards if they're going to call it down, only to beat me with a bottom, middle or top pair.

I'm curious if you guys have any guidelines/tips for playing paint cards effectively that do not hit the flop well (minimal chance for flush or straight)?

According to my PT stats, my biggest BB/Hand loser is AQs at 2.21BB/Hand (17 AQs hands total), so obviously I'm misplaying overcards such as this one badly.

CFlannigan:

Overcards can be tricky to play, but I doubt you are playing them so poorly that -2.21BB/hand is representative of your skill. You only have 17 trials---that win rate is meaningless. I went a stretch of over 30K hands where AKs was in the red....and even the most horrendous player can turn a profit with that hand. Post some hands if you think you are misplaying overcards--they are very situational.

Also, I think it was you who posted a stats thread after 1700 hands. I think you should not pay so much attention to your stats....only VPIP and pfr have much meaning with this small a sample size. Looking at win rates with specific hands or stats on blind steals and defenses is pretty pointless, imo, at 2000 hands. Don't worry so much about your stats yet and just try to make the correct plays and understand why you are making them. The stats will follow.

--Fred

Don't raise the river with a-high unless you have a good read on your opponent or they often fold on the river.

There's a lot of things I do when analyzing the situation with overcards, but you say you already understand that part. There's nothing else you can do about it. Play overcards like any other weak draw, with a few exceptions: when it gets checked to you on raggedy flops, assume your a-high is best and throw out a bet. If the turn still seems unlikely to help, bet again. On the river, check it through.

I'm still working on figuring out when to call river bets with just a-high or k-high, so what to do there is a far more complicated matter. I made a post about it if you're interested.