Hold'em table

Three-handed on the button, J5o sits at the bottom of a wide stealing range, so a small open to 2.5bb puts pressure on the blinds. Stealing their 1.5bb is profitable often enough to justify it.

7-2 offsuit is far too weak to defend from the small blind against an opening raise, especially with the big blind still to act.

The small blind’s dead chips improve my pot odds, making a call with 8-5 offsuit defensible against a button open. I’ll play cautiously out of position after the flop.

I have no pair or meaningful draw on this flop. Checking avoids investing more into the preflop raiser.

Middle pair on a K-J-2 rainbow board, in position against a BB who checked. A small bet of about a third of the pot gets value from Jx and weaker hands, denies equity to overcards, and keeps the pot manageable.'

I have eight-high with no meaningful draw on a king-jack flop. Calling with so little chance to improve is not worth it.

Button open-raise to apply pressure and leverage position; K-high has reasonable blocker value in a three-handed game.

7-2 offsuit is too weak to defend from the small blind against a button raise, especially with the big blind still to act.

Getting about 2.7:1 against a wide 3-handed button open, 83o has enough equity to defend from the big blind, though it is too weak to 3-bet.

I hold 83 offsuit with no pair and no draw on a monotone ace-high board that heavily favors the preflop raiser. Checking out of position and giving up is correct.

As the preflop raiser, a small continuation bet can fold out many missed hands and retains initiative on this ace-high board.

83o with only a gutshot to a 5 (and a 5 would put four to a straight on board) on a monotone ace-high board is too weak even at 200 into 750. Folding is cheap.

On the button in a three-handed pot, Q3 offsuit is a reasonable low-cost steal, with position if called.

A7o from the small blind facing a button open, with the big blind still to act, is a marginal spot out of position. Calling is weak, and a 3-bet bluff with an offsuit hand has little fold equity against a button range, so folding is fine.

JTs is a strong, well-connected suited hand with good playability heads-up against a button min-raise. Calling preserves positional disadvantage costs while retaining strong postflop potential.

We have the current nut straight on a highly connected board. Checking to the preflop raiser retains their c-bets and lets us build a larger pot through a later check-raise.

This connected, heart-heavy flop favors the big blind's calling range, and my hand has little equity or useful backdoor potential. Checking preserves the option to reassess on the turn.

I have a made jack-high straight, but the third heart makes protection and value important. A substantial turn bet targets pairs, draws, and worse made hands while charging hearts.

I have only a gutshot on a coordinated, three-heart board. Calling 350 without a heart is unlikely to be profitable.

J8 offsuit is a standard button open in 3-handed play, so I'm raising to 2.5bb to steal the blinds.

9-high offsuit with a weak kicker is not strong enough to defend from the small blind against a button open, especially with the big blind still behind.

K8 suited has enough equity to defend the big blind against a button min-ish open, especially with the small blind folded.

I have an open-ended straight draw, but this high-card flop connects well with the preflop raiser’s range. Checking keeps the pot manageable while preserving my options if they bet.

Middle pair with a gutshot on a very connected board that favors the big blind's calling range. Checking back controls the pot size and still keeps my equity to realize on the turn.

The flop checked through, and I have an open-ended straight draw. A modest turn bet can win the pot now while keeping the cost of a semibluff reasonable.

Middle pair plus a gutshot getting about 28% pot odds against a turn stab after a checked-through flop; calling is profitable while raising would fold out worse hands.

My king makes a king-high straight. A moderate river bet can get called by worse straights and strong made hands without risking too much against AK.

We have a queen-high straight, but any king beats us on this four-to-a-straight board. Against a half-pot bet, calling is clearly profitable, while a raise would mostly get called by kings and fold out worse hands.

Pocket tens are a strong button opening hand three-handed. I raise to 3bb for value and initiative.

J4 offsuit is too weak to defend from the small blind against a button raise, especially with the big blind still to act.

Getting about 3.25:1 against a wide 3-handed button open, J2s has enough equity and playability as a suited hand to defend the big blind by calling.

Bottom pair with a weak backdoor diamond draw, out of position against the button raiser's range on a Q-high board; check and evaluate the c-bet.

Betting for protection and value with the overpair to the board, while charging spade draws and weaker pairs.

Bottom pair with backdoor straight and flush draws. That is enough to continue against a small c-bet when we only need about 24% equity.

We have two pair with a weak kicker, 99 and 22, on a turn that makes a spade flush possible, and the button has a strong range after raising preflop and c-betting. Checking controls the pot and keeps our showdown value, and we can decide on the river after seeing their action.

The third spade heavily favors the flop calling range, and betting mostly gets action from flushes or stronger made hands. Checking preserves showdown value with tens and avoids facing a costly raise.

The board already makes two pair (queens and nines), so my hand is just the board with a jack kicker. Worse hands won't call a bet and better ones won't fold, so I'll check and take the showdown.

With the double-paired board, our tens are only a middling kicker and a river bet is unlikely to be called by worse often enough. Checking realizes showdown value against missed spades and smaller pocket pairs.

K9 offsuit is strong enough to open on the button three-handed. A 2.5 big blind raise applies pressure while keeping the pot manageable.

J3o in the small blind facing a button open, with the big blind still to act behind, is too weak to call or 3-bet profitably out of position.

A4 offsuit is too weak to defend profitably against a button open at this sizing out of position.