Hold'em table

Opening small on the button gives us a chance to win the blinds while retaining positional advantage if called. Suited 5-3 has enough postflop potential to support this marginal open.

73 offsuit is too weak to defend from the small blind against a button raise, especially with the big blind still to act. Folding avoids investing more chips with poor equity and positional disadvantage.

Q5 offsuit is a weak hand out of position against a button open; even with good pot odds it plays poorly postflop, so folding is the standard play.

With the button and no rake, K3 offsuit is a reasonable marginal steal. A small raise pressures both blinds while limiting the cost if they defend aggressively.

KTs in the SB versus a button open 3-handed is a solid 3-bet hand; raising denies the BB and takes initiative rather than playing out of position with a call.

J5 offsuit is too weak to continue against a button raise and small-blind three-bet, especially with the original raiser still to act. Folding avoids investing more with poor equity and playability.

K3 offsuit is too weak to defend against a small-blind three-bet, even in position. Its poor playability and domination risk make folding preferable to calling or bluffing.

T4 suited on the button in a 3-handed game is a reasonable open-raise to attack the blinds; folding is too tight and limping is weak.

76 offsuit is too weak to defend profitably against a 2.5bb button raise from the small blind. Poor position and the big blind still to act make calling unattractive, while this hand is not a good default three-bet bluff.

Calling costs 150 into a 400-chip pot, requiring about 27% equity. Against a typical wide button opening range, 97 offsuit has enough equity and straight potential to defend the big blind at this price.

This dry ace-high flop favors the preflop raiser, so checking is preferable to leading. With only nine-high and a gutshot to a six, I can reassess against the opponent’s bet size.

I raised preflop on the button and BB checked to me on a dry A-high board; a small c-bet with my range advantage should fold out many hands, and my T4dd has backdoor flush and gutshot equity.

I have only nine-high and a gutshot, with no backdoor flush draw. Out of position, my limited equity realization does not justify calling this bet.

85 offsuit is too weak for a standard button open against two unknown opponents. Folding avoids investing in a hand with poor equity and limited postflop playability.

T8 offsuit is strong enough to complete the small blind at 3-to-1 pot odds. Calling keeps the pot small while avoiding an unnecessary raise out of position.

Q6 offsuit in the big blind against a small blind limp; checking takes a free flop in position with a marginal hand rather than bloating the pot.

With only ten-high, no flush draw, and limited backdoor straight potential, checking avoids building a pot out of position with very little equity.

Heads-up in position vs a limp-check on a paired KJJ board; small stab with Q6 has good fold equity against the capped range and I have a gutshot plus Q overcard as backup.

Ten-high has no immediate straight or flush draw on this paired board. With weak equity and poor prospects out of position, calling the half-pot bet is not profitable.

K4 offsuit is a marginal but reasonable button open three-handed. A small raise pressures both blinds while limiting investment with a hand that benefits from position.

J8 offsuit in the small blind facing a button raise is a clear fold; it plays poorly out of position with a big blind still to act behind.

Calling costs 125 to contest a 500-chip pot, giving favorable 3:1 pot odds against a typically wide button opening range. A2 offsuit is sufficient to defend here, while calling avoids inflating the pot out of position with a weak kicker.

This king-queen-high flop favors the preflop raiser's range, and A2 has little drawing potential. Check rather than build the pot out of position with weak ace-high.

A small continuation bet can get value from queens and straight draws while denying equity to weaker hands. Top pair is strong enough for this sizing, without building an unnecessarily large pot with a weak kicker.

Ace-high with a weak kicker and no strong draw realizes equity poorly out of position on this board. Despite the small bet, stronger hands and better draws provide enough candidates to continue.

Pocket threes on the button in a 3-handed game is a standard open; raising to 2.5bb takes initiative and sets up for set-mining or stealing blinds.

62 offsuit is too weak to defend against a 2.5bb button raise from the small blind, with poor equity realization and the big blind still to act.

J2 offsuit is too weak to defend against a 2.5bb button raise, even with the small blind's dead money. Its poor playability out of position makes folding preferable to calling or bluff-raising.