Hold'em table

A5s is a solid button open in three-handed play; a 2.5bb raise builds the pot with position and suited-ace equity.

92s is far too weak to defend out of position against a button raise.

Getting 400:150 in the big blind against a wide button open, 73s has enough equity and playability to defend by calling.

With 73o on Th-Qd-8h out of position against the button's preflop raise, I have no pair and no draw, and this board hits the raiser's range. Checking keeps the pot small and lets me fold cheaply to a bet.

Ace-high with no pair or draw on T-Q-8 has little fold equity as a bluff and some showdown value, so I check back rather than inflate the pot.

7-high has no showdown value. The button checked back the flop, which caps its range, so a small turn probe on the K can fold out its many weak hands.

Ace-high with no pair and no real draw is too weak to continue against a turn bet on this connected board.

Open-raising standard button range with an ace in 3-handed play.

T5 offsuit is too weak to continue out of position from the small blind against a button min-raise with the big blind still to act. Folding loses only the 50-chip small blind.

ATo is strong enough to continue against a button min-raise, and calling keeps the pot small out of position rather than bloating it with a dominated ace.

Ace-high with no pair or draw on a king-high flop; the preflop raiser has the range advantage, so checking is best.

C-betting one-third pot on a dry King-high board as the preflop raiser with an Ace-high and gutshot straight draw.

Ace-high with no pair or draw, out of position against a flop c-bet. The price is small, but continuing without equity or position is not worth it.

A4o is a clear open from the button in a 3-handed game, so I'm raising to 2.5bb to steal the blinds.

T6o is too weak to continue out of position against a button open. Folding avoids putting more chips in with a dominated, low-equity hand.

In 3-max, KTo is well within the standard BB defending range against a 2.5x button open getting nearly 2.7:1 pot odds.

Check to the preflop raiser out of position with King-high on a paired flop.

On a dry paired board where I have range advantage, a small c-bet with ace-high works well: it gets folds from overcards and keeps backdoor equity in play. Heads-up against the big blind, who checked to me, I'm the preflop raiser in position.

We hold King-high with no direct draw on a paired board out of position. Even against a small continuation bet, KTo lacks sufficient equity and playability to continue profitably.

K6o is too weak to open from the button in a three-handed game, and limping is unattractive. Folding preserves chips for better spots.

Opening with a pocket pair blind-versus-blind after the button folded.

A3o is well ahead of a wide small-blind raising range and is getting 3:1 on the call, so defending the big blind is clearly profitable. Calling keeps their weaker hands in and lets me play the pot in position.

On a monotone trips board where we have range advantage and currently hold a full house, a small 1/3-pot bet denies equity from overcards and extracts value from ace-high floats.

On a 444 board, ace-high is a reasonable bluff-catcher against a wide small-blind range, and a 1/3-pot bet only requires about 20% equity. Calling keeps the bluffs in their range and lets me realize equity.

We hold Fours full of Threes, which beats unpaired broadways but loses to any Ace or higher pocket pair; checking controls the pot.

Our hand plays as fours full of aces, which loses only to a 4 or AA and ties with other aces. A value bet of about two-thirds pot gets calls from pocket pairs and Ax after the opponent checked.

With three fours and an ace on the board, our pair of threes is completely counterfeited and loses to almost any hand with a kicker higher than a three.

65 offsuit is too weak to open from the button even in 3-handed play, making fold the standard choice.

A4o is a clear opening hand in a blind-vs-blind spot after the button folds. Raising to 3bb takes the initiative and lets me pick up the pot often.

T2o is too weak to defend out of position against a 3x small-blind open after the button folds.

93o is too weak to open from the button in 3-handed play at 100bb, so folding is the standard play.

K3 offsuit is too weak to call or raise out of position against the big blind, so folding preserves chips.