Hold'em table

A5s is a premium opening hand on the button in 3-handed play; raising 2.5x to build the pot in position.

AK suited is strong enough to 3-bet for value and initiative from the small blind. Raising to 900 applies pressure to the button while keeping the sizing manageable.

Q6 offsuit is too weak to continue against a raise and a 3-bet; folding preserves the stack.

Holding A5s on the button against an out-of-position small blind 3-bet gives us great playability, positional advantage, and reasonable pot odds to see a flop.

A small continuation bet uses my preflop initiative and can fold out hands with live equity; ace-high also retains useful improvement potential when called.

I hold Ace-high with only backdoor equity facing a continuation bet on a wet board against an opponent who 3-bet preflop, so folding is clearly the highest EV play.

I’ll take the inexpensive flop in position rather than build a pot with a very weak offsuit hand.

85s is weak but only 50 more into a 250 pot gives a good price to see a flop multiway, and raising for value or isolation is not justified.

Holding pocket Aces in the big blind against two limpers, raising to 5bb to extract value and thin the field.

Seven-deuce offsuit is a very weak hand, and calling 400 more against a raise would be unprofitable, especially with another player in the pot.

85 suited is too weak to call a 5bb raise out of position after the button folds, so I give up the small blind completion.

Button open with suited jack; a small raise steals the blinds often enough and keeps the price low when called.

Holding an unplayable 82o in the small blind against a button open, folding is the standard and clear play.

85 suited is a reasonable big-blind defend against a button open, and the call price is manageable heads-up.

I have only weak backdoor potential on this dry flop, so checking avoids building the pot without a strong hand.

Jack-high with no pair or draw has little equity if called, so I check back rather than bluff into the preflop caller on this dry board.

I have only 8-high with no meaningful draw, so betting is unlikely to improve my position. I’ll take the free river card.

J-high has no showdown value on this ace-high board, and the opponent has checked both flop and turn. A half-pot bet can fold out air and weak pairs that are giving up.

I have only 8-high with no meaningful draw, and calling the turn bet is unlikely to be profitable.

Opening JTo from the button is standard in 3-handed play to steal blinds and realize positional advantage.

9♠6♣ is a weak offsuit hand, and calling a 2.5× raise from the small blind leaves me out of position with the big blind still to act.

J8 offsuit is too weak and dominated to continue out of position against a button open, so folding is the higher-EV play.

A3 offsuit is a reasonable button open three-handed; raise to 2.5 big blinds to take the initiative and apply pressure to the blinds.

Q6 suited is too weak to continue from the small blind against a button open, especially out of position with the big blind still to act. Folding avoids a dominated spot with poor equity.

Getting favorable pot odds of 150 to win a pot of 400, 54s is a standard suited connector defend from the big blind against a button open.

I missed this flop completely out of position, checking to the preflop raiser.

I have top pair and can get value from worse hands while charging draws. A small bet also keeps the pot manageable with my weak kicker.

I completely missed this high flop with five-high and have minimal backdoor equity, so folding to the c-bet is standard.

Q8o is playable as a button open in 3-handed; a 2.5bb raise is better than limping or folding this wide.

Holding 6h 4c out of position against a button raise is an easy fold.

K2 suited is playable from the big blind against a button raise, and the price is reasonable. I’ll call rather than inflate the pot with a weak king.

With bottom pair and a weak kicker on an ace-high flop, I prefer to check out of position and keep the pot controlled.

I have middle pair with a queen kicker as the preflop raiser, and the big blind checked. A small continuation bet takes the pot often and gets value from worse pairs and floats.

The small bet gives a reasonable price to continue with bottom pair and a backdoor flush draw against a heads-up continuation-betting range.

I have a weak pair but a strong king-high flush draw, so checking keeps the pot controlled and lets me realize my equity. I can respond to a bet based on its size.

I have a weak pair of eights on an ace-jack board after getting called on the flop, so checking controls the pot and preserves showdown value.

I have two pair, jacks and deuces, but a check-through is preferable to value-betting this modest hand against an opponent who can have stronger two pair or trips.

I have Jacks and eights, but the big blind's flop-call range is heavy with aces and jacks that now beat me. Checking realizes showdown value without betting into a range that mostly continues only when ahead.