Hold'em table

Pocket aces are the strongest starting hand. Opening to 2.5 big blinds builds the pot for value while encouraging calls and possible reraises from weaker hands.

Holding 6s 3c out of position against a button open is an easy fold.

JTo in the big blind facing a 2.5x button open with 150 to call into a 400 pot; getting good odds with a playable hand that flops well, so defending by calling is standard.

I have JT with a gutshot (8 for a straight) and two overcards on a 6-9-7 board, out of position against the preflop raiser. Checking to the aggressor is standard; I can call a reasonable c-bet with my draw and overcards.

Bet for value from worse pairs and charge flush and straight draws. A roughly two-thirds-pot sizing suits this coordinated board without overcommitting against the big blind’s stronger holdings.

JT on 679 gives a gutshot to the 8 plus two overcards against a wide button c-bet range; getting ~2.6:1 with decent implied odds, calling is better than folding, and a check-raise bluff is higher variance OOP.

Turned top pair with a jack kicker plus an open-ended straight draw on a wet board; betting for value and protection against draws, pairs of 9s/7s, and overcards rather than letting the button check back.

The four-straight board warrants caution, but aces still beat pair-plus-draw hands and club semibluffs, which I do not block. Calling preserves those weaker hands at a 27.3% required equity price; raising would mostly isolate stronger holdings.

Top pair with a jack kicker on a river that completed the flush and many straight draws; betting gets called mostly by better hands, so check and evaluate against a bet.

Aces retain showdown value, but the turn lead represents plenty of straights and two-pair hands, and the river completes the club draw. Checking avoids a thin value bet that is unlikely to get called by enough worse hands.

Holding 73 offsuit on the button, this hand is far too weak to open raise or play profitably. Easy fold.

Button folded, so it's blind vs blind; 8d4d suited is a reasonable steal candidate from the SB against a single opponent, and raising to 3bb applies pressure while keeping playability postflop with position disadvantage mitigated by fold equity.

QJo is a strong enough defense against a small-blind open, especially with position postflop and 2-to-1 pot odds. Calling retains weaker hands in the opponent’s range without unnecessarily inflating the pot.

Middle pair with a weak kicker on a very wet, connected board that favors the big blind's calling range; checking keeps the pot small and avoids getting check-raised off a marginal made hand.

I flopped the nut straight on a coordinated, two-heart board. Betting three-quarters pot builds value against pairs and draws while charging hands that can improve or lose interest on later streets.

I have bottom pair with a weak kicker on a coordinated 9-8-T board with a flush draw; facing a pot-sized bet (450 into 600) out of position, my hand is too weak to continue profitably against the big blind's range.

T3 offsuit on the button is well outside a reasonable 3-handed opening range; folding is the standard play rather than limping or raising a weak unsuited hand.

J8 offsuit is strong enough to complete heads-up for 50 chips at 3:1 pot odds. Limping keeps the pot small with a marginal hand that will play out of position.

I have Q6o in the big blind facing a small blind completion, so taking the free flop in position is standard.

With jack-high, no direct draw, and only a backdoor straight possibility, this is a weak betting candidate out of position. Checking avoids building the pot with little equity.

Betting half pot with top pair in position for value and protection against gutshots and underpairs.

J-high has no pair or direct draw, and its weak backdoor prospects do not justify calling a half-pot bet out of position. There are stronger hands to continue with or use as check-raise bluffs.

AQ offsuit is a strong button opening hand three-handed. Raising to 2.5 big blinds builds value against weaker hands while applying pressure to the blinds and retaining positional advantage.

Folding 76 offsuit from the small blind facing a button open.

Q7 suited in the big blind facing a 2.5x button open with 150 to call into a 400 pot gets good odds; it's a standard defend against a wide button range, though not strong enough to 3-bet.

Middle pair with Q kicker on a dry board out of position; checking to the preflop raiser is standard, planning to call a c-bet and keep the pot controlled.

Ace-high has some showdown value and two overcards, but no backdoor flush draw on a board that connects well with the big blind's range. Checking preserves equity in position and avoids exposing this hand to a check-raise.

Middle pair with Q kicker on an ace turn; the button checked back the flop so they likely have a weak hand or an Ax that just improved. Checking keeps the pot small and lets me realize showdown value or call a modest bet.

Top pair with a strong kicker merits a value bet after the big blind checks twice. This sizing can earn calls from weaker aces, pairs, and straight draws while building the pot for river value.

Middle pair with Q kicker on 8-2-7-A; button checked flop then bet turn when the ace came, which is a common bluff/float line from a wide button range. Getting ~28% pot odds, calling once to see the river is reasonable.

I hold a pair of sevens with a queen kicker on an A-high board where the button bet the turn after checking the flop; betting has little value since worse hands rarely call and better hands won't fold, so I check and evaluate a bet.

Top pair with a queen kicker can extract another street of value from weaker aces and some bluff-catching pairs. A roughly half-pot bet keeps those hands in while limiting exposure on a river that completes some straights and two-pair hands.

Pair of sevens with a queen kicker is a bluff catcher; the half-pot river bet only needs ~25% bluffs to make a call profitable, and the opponent's flop check-back weights their range toward missed overcards like KQ/KJ/QJ that could be barreling turn and river.

63o is too weak to open from the button even in 3-handed play.

Button folded, so I'm heads-up in the small blind against the big blind with T9 offsuit, a hand well above the range I should play here; raising for value and initiative is better than limping and conceding position cheaply.

Calling costs 200 into a 400 pot, requiring 33.3% equity before accounting for future betting. T3 suited is a reasonable defense against a small-blind opening range, especially with position postflop and no rake.

As the preflop raiser on an A-K-8 rainbow board that strongly favors my range, a small continuation bet with my whole range is standard; T9 has no showdown value but has backdoor straight equity and good fold equity here.

Ten-high with only a backdoor flush draw has too little equity to continue reliably on this ace-king-high board. This board favors the preflop raiser, and stronger hands are available to defend against the small bet.

On the button in a 3-handed game, 5c3c suited connector-ish is a reasonable steal-raise candidate against the blinds with position; raising to 2.5bb applies pressure and plays well postflop.

Nine-four offsuit is too weak to defend against a button raise from the small blind, especially with the big blind still to act. Folding avoids investing more chips with poor equity and playability out of position.

K6o has poor playability out of position against a 2.5bb button open, making it a standard fold.