Hold'em table

As the button in a three-handed game, 8-6 offsuit is playable as an open-raise. A small raise applies pressure while keeping the pot manageable with a marginal hand.

Q5 offsuit in the small blind facing a button open to 2.5bb with the big blind still to act is a clear fold; it's dominated and plays poorly out of position.

J5 offsuit on the button in a 3-handed game is a marginal hand; it's below a reasonable opening range and folding avoids playing a weak, easily dominated hand out of position postflop relative to the blinds' continuing ranges.

4s2s is the worst hand in hold'em; calling 50 more heads-up against the big blind has no profitable line. Folding is clearly best.

With the button folded, the small blind is heads-up and getting favorable pot odds to complete. I’ll avoid inflating the pot with this weak offsuit hand.

Button folded, SB limped; Q9 suited is well ahead of a limping range heads-up and we have position postflop? No—BB is out of position vs SB? Actually SB acts first postflop, so we have position. Raise for value and to take the pot down often.

3♥5♠ is a very weak offsuit hand, and calling a sizable raise from the small blind leaves me out of position with poor equity and playability.

A6 offsuit is a reasonable button open in a three-handed game. A 2.5BB raise puts pressure on the blinds while keeping the pot manageable.

Pocket deuces in the SB facing a 2.5x button open with 100bb deep; set-mining with good implied odds and a possible BB caller is reasonable. 3-betting is poor since we fold to a 4-bet and have no postflop playability beyond set value.

A5s is a good defending hand in the big blind; calling 150 to see a flop with a suited wheel-ace is profitable against a wide 2.5x raise range.

Pocket deuces on a 9-5-8 two-tone board is essentially a bluff-catcher with no equity to improve; first to act in a 3-way pot, checking and folding to significant aggression is standard.

I hold a weak pair of fives with a gutshot; checking keeps the pot small and avoids building a pot out of position with a marginal made hand.

I have the nut flush draw, a gutshot to a straight, and overcard equity. With both opponents checking, a moderate bet can win the pot now while building it when called.

Pocket deuces on a 9-5-8 two-tone board with a c-bet from the button and a player still behind me is a clear fold; I have only two outs and no equity to continue.

I only hold bottom pair with a weak kicker on a connected, monotone-ish board, and seat_1 showed preflop aggression plus a flop bet that seat_2 folded to. Calling out of position with little equity is -EV, so I fold.

K7o on the button in a 3-handed game is a standard open; raising to 2.5bb takes advantage of position and steals blinds often.

K5s is too weak to call 2.5x out of position against the button raiser with the BB still in; folding avoids a dominated-kickback spot.

QTs is a solid defend against a button open, and calling preserves its playability without inflating the pot out of position.

Q-high has some showdown potential and backdoor heart equity, but this dry paired board gives little reason to bet into the preflop raiser. Check and keep the pot small.

Paired, dry board 9-2-2 heavily favors the preflop raiser's range; a small continuation bet with K-high takes down the pot often and has fold equity against many unpaired hands the big blind called with.

Call the modest bet with two overcards and backdoor heart and straight-draw potential. The price is favorable enough to continue, while raising would risk too much with only a weak made hand.

Q-high has little showdown value and no meaningful draw on this paired turn. Check and avoid building a pot without a strong reason to bluff.

Board is 9-2-2-2; my K7 plays as trips with K kicker. Any pair or ace beats me and won't fold, while worse hands (Q-high floats) would fold to a bet, so betting has no value and risks a check-raise. Check back to realize showdown equity.

My queen kicker gives me some showdown value on this paired board, and worse hands are unlikely to call a river bet. I’ll check rather than turn that value into a bluff.

Board trips with K kicker; any pair or Ace beats me and worse hands won't call, so no value in betting. Check back for showdown.

Completing costs only 50 chips into a 150-chip pot, and this weak offsuit hand is better played cheaply than raised out of position.

Button folded (fallback) and SB limped; K8o has decent equity heads-up and the limper's range is weak, so raising to 300 takes the pot often and builds a pot in position-neutral spot with a playable hand.

Nine-four offsuit is a very weak hand, and calling a raise from the small blind would put in too much more with poor postflop prospects.