Hold'em table

With 9-8 offsuit on the button in a 3‑handed game, I apply pressure with a small raise to steal the blinds and leverage my position.

Nine-jack offsuit is weak out of position against a button raise to 300, and I face a 250 call with a dominated, unconnected hand.

T5 suited in the big blind facing a 3x button open with 200 to call into 450; we're getting ~2.25:1 and closing the action, and a suited hand with playability justifies a defend rather than fold.

Bottom pair with a weak kicker out of position versus the preflop raiser; checking to see what the button does is standard and keeps the pot small.

I have an open-ended straight draw and position; a c-bet on this king-high board can often take the pot down or build fold equity on later streets.

Bottom pair with a ten kicker and backdoor clubs versus a wide button open that c-bets a dry K-high board; getting ~2.6:1 we have enough equity to see a turn and fold to further pressure if unimproved.

I have bottom pair with a weak kicker on a K-J board after the preflop raiser bet the flop; checking keeps the pot small and lets me evaluate their turn action rather than bloating the pot with a marginal hand.

I have an open-ended straight draw with 9-8 but the board is K-J-7-5, so only four outs to a non-nut straight. I have position and no showdown value yet; checking behind gives me a free river card while keeping the pot small.

River gave me trips (5c with board 5s5d) and villain showed weakness checking the turn after a c-bet; betting ~60% pot for value against Kx/Jx that will call, as very few hands that checked turn beat me.

I have 9-high with no pair and no draw on a paired board. Villain's river bet signals at least a J or weak K, and I have no showdown value. Bluffing here is too risky given the history, so folding preserves my stack.

A pocket pair of fives is strong enough to raise for value and take the initiative from the blinds in a three-handed game.

Q7 offsuit in the small blind facing a 3x button open is a clear fold; it's dominated by the button's opening range and plays poorly out of position.

AsQs is a very strong hand preflop, worth a 3-bet to build the pot and gain value from the button's wide raising range.

Pocket fives in a deep-stacked three-way pot get good set-mining odds for a 600 call into a 1250 pot, and folding to a single raise is too tight.

With AQ high on a dry flop, a continuation bet leverages my preflop 3-bet range to pressure his capped calling range and fold out medium pairs or unpaired hands.

Calling 1000 into a 2850 pot gives about 26% pot odds, and a pocket pair of 5s plus straight-draw outs makes continuing reasonable against a single flop bet.

I have the nut flush draw with overcards and only one card to come. Shoving maximizes fold equity and I still have reasonable equity when called.

With 55 on a 4-6-7-9 board I have a pair of fives plus about 10 outs (two fives for a set, eight for a straight), roughly 22% equity. Calling 8100 into a 11950 pot needs about 40%, and seat_1's line likely means a set or two pair, so folding is correct.

65o on the button in a 3-handed game is a reasonable steal candidate against two blinds; a small raise to 2.5bb takes the pot often and plays fine postflop with position.

Holding 4c2c is too weak to call a raise from the button, especially out of position. Folding preserves my stack for future opportunities.

Calling 150 into a 400 pot gives about 2.7:1 odds, and 5s Ts has enough heads-up equity against a button raising range to justify the call from the big blind.

With five spades on the board-plus-hole cards (T-high flush), I have a strong made hand, so I'll bet for value against the button's range.

6s5c on 7s9s3s gives a flush draw plus gutshot (~12 outs) and the bet is small relative to pot (~26% to call), so calling is correct; raising a weak flush draw on a monotone board is unprofitable versus a claimed flush.

I have a made flush (Ts 9s 7s 5s 3s) on a four-card board, so I'm value betting about half the pot to get called by worse hands and draws.}

I hold 6s5c: pair of sixes, 4-card spade draw, and a double gutshot (4 or 8), with straight-flush outs that beat a made flush. Getting ~25% pot odds with position and deep stacks, calling is marginally profitable given the opponent's flush claim may be a bluff; raising would only get called by better.

I hold a T-high spade flush (5s Ts with 7s 9s 3s), a strong made hand, and I act first with no bet to call, so I value bet about half the pot to get called by weaker pairs.

I hold only a pair of sixes with no flush on a monotone board where villain has led three streets with consistent sizing; my hand beats almost nothing in that range, so calling 1200 to win 3550 is unprofitable.

QJo on the button 3-handed is strong enough to open-raise; raising to 300 puts pressure on the blinds and builds the pot with position.

Seven-deuce-ish 2-5 offsuit is a weak hand facing a 300 raise from the button, so folding the small blind avoids a poor out-of-position spot.

A3 suited in the big blind facing a 3x button open with 200 to call into 450; getting good odds and closing the action, a call is standard while 3-betting a weak ace out of position is marginal.

Bottom pair with ace kicker and a gutshot-ish backdoor; out of position against the preflop raiser, checking to see their action is standard and keeps the pot controlled.

We have two overcards on a paired flop with no draw, but the big blind checked, showing weakness. A continuation bet of half-pot (350) with our overcards as bluff equity can take down the pot often, and if called, we have position and can re-evaluate on the turn.

Bottom pair with top kicker and a backdoor wheel/heart draws vs a button c-bet on a dry-ish board; getting ~26% pot odds, calling once is standard and keeps bluffs in.

Bottom pair with a gutshot on a three-club board; no reason to bet into the preflop aggressor out of position. Check and reassess based on his action.

We have a flush draw with Qc and overcards, but the turn completed many draws and opponent's check could be a trap. Checking back gives us a free river to realize equity and avoids getting check-raised off our draw.

Tens and threes with ace kicker on a board where villain checked back the turn after the flush completed; a small bet extracts value from 66-99 and ace-high type hands while I can fold to a raise.

We have Q-high with no draw on a paired, flush-completing board. Opponent's line of check-call flop, check turn, then bet river often indicates a marginal made hand like a ten or a slowplayed flush. We beat only a pure bluff, and without reads, folding is prudent.

Ace-trey on the button has strong blocker value and playability in a 3-handed game, so raising to 300 takes initiative and builds the pot with a good hand.

98 offsuit in the small blind facing a 3x button open with the big blind still to act plays poorly out of position; folding is the standard, chip-preserving play.

2c6d is an extremely weak hand with little post-flop playability out of position against a button raise; folding avoids losing more chips in a likely unfavorable spot.

4-6 offsuit on the button in a 3-handed game is a marginal hand; folding avoids playing a weak holding out of position against two blinds who could raise.

With As4h heads-up after button fold, raising to 200 as a steal attempt exploits my opponent's potential tightness and avoids playing out of position with a weak hand.

King-jack offsuit is a playable hand, and calling the 100-chip raise from the big blind is cheap with a good price to see the flop.

As the preflop raiser on a dry board, a continuation bet of half pot (200) can win immediately or build the pot with our gutshot straight draw. Checking would show weakness and likely lead to facing a bet we can't call.

I have two overcards with a backdoor draw and need about 25% equity to call 200 into an 800 pot, which is reasonable against a c-bet from a range that includes many air hands.

I hold J-K high with no pair on a paired board, so I have little showdown value and no need to build the pot. Checking keeps the hand cheap and lets me see the river.

I have a marginal pair of sevens with an ace kicker, but the paired board and river 9 make many better hands possible; checking avoids value-owning myself.

I hold only King-high with no made pair on a paired board, so I have little showdown value and should not bluff into a player who has shown weakness by checking. Checking takes the free showdown.