Hold'em table

Pocket sixes on the button in a 3-handed game is a clear open; raising to 2.5bb takes initiative and plays well against the blinds.

T8 suited has good playability and equity against a wide button open, and calling 200 into 400 offers favorable pot odds despite being out of position.

Suited connector 98 in the big blind with 150 to call against a raise; good pot odds to see a flop and play for a big hand.

With only a gutshot/backdoor draws and one overcard against two opponents, checking keeps the pot controlled and takes a free card.

Middle pair on a low board with two players checked to me; a small bet builds the pot and charges draws while staying easy to fold if raised.

66 is a pair above two of the three board cards; a 60% pot donk bet from the BB into two players often represents flush draws or weak 9x, so calling once with pot odds around 27% and showdown value is reasonable, while raising risks bloating the pot with a marginal hand and SB still behind.

T-high with only backdoor diamond and straight draws has poor equity against a flop bet and call from two opponents; calling 450 is not justified.

I have middle pair on a scary turn with two opponents' action already heavy preflop; checking keeps the pot small and avoids bloating with only second pair.

Pocket sixes is a marginal showdown hand on 2-9-4-7 after villain donk-bet the flop and checked the turn; betting folds out worse and gets called by better, so I check back for pot control and realize equity.

I hold a pair of nines on a checked-through river; a small value bet can get called by worse pairs or a missed draw, and I can fold to a raise.

River bet of 500 into 1650 gives ~19% pot odds; villain's flop donk, turn check, small river bet includes missed straight draws (56, 86, 53, A5, T8) that my sixes beat, so a call is marginally profitable as a bluff-catcher.

6-7 suited on the button in 3-handed play is a strong opening hand with position, suitedness and connectivity; raising builds the pot and takes initiative.

A7s is a playable hand against a 2.5x raise; calling keeps the pot small and retains position advantage over the raiser.

T5 offsuit is a weak hand facing a button raise and small blind call; even with decent pot odds it plays poorly out of position multiway, so folding is the standard play.

I hold the nut flush draw plus an ace overcard heads-up; a half-pot bet builds the pot and can take it down now.

With 6-high, no made hand and only backdoor draws on K-J-8, I have far less than the 25% equity needed to call a half-pot bet.

Pocket jacks are strong; a standard 3x open from the button builds the pot and isolates the blinds.

T4 suited is too weak to call a 3x open from the small blind out of position with the big blind still to act; folding is the standard play.

Q9o has sufficient equity against a wide button open to defend the big blind, needing only about 31% to call 200 into 450.

Trips queens on a paired, draw-heavy board; bet for value from Kx and pocket pairs and to charge spade and straight draws.

I hold JJ on a QQK board, giving me jacks full of queens — nearly unbeatable. I'll raise for value and build the pot against seat_2.

Trip queens on Q-Q-K flop beats two-pair hands like Kx and AA and most draws; only better queens or KK are ahead. Calling the raise controls the pot while keeping bluffs and worse value in.

Trip queens with board ace-king kickers is strong, but the turn ace completes full houses, Broadway, and spade flushes that were raising the flop. Checking controls the pot and lets me evaluate opponent's turn action before committing more.

I hold J-high with the nut flush draw on the Qs-Qs-Ks-As board; seat_2's flop call then turn check suggests weakness, so betting takes fold equity while I still improve on any spade.

Trip queens with board ace-king kickers beat two-pair hands like AK and Kx that can raise the flop and value-bet the ace turn. Needing only about 26% equity against a range that also includes ties and bluffs, calling is preferable to raising, which would only be continued by full houses, straights, and flushes.

I have Queens full of Aces, but any Ace, King, or the case Queen beats me and opponent showed flop/turn strength. Checking avoids only getting called by better when raising, lets board-playing worse hands show down, and keeps bluffs in.

I hold the J-high flush but the board paired on the river, so I'm behind full houses and higher flushes. Seat 2's river check suggests weakness, but betting risks a check-raise with little fold equity; checking realizes my equity cheaply.

AQs on the button in a 3-handed game is a premium hand; open-raise to 2.5bb for value and to take initiative with position.

8c4s is a very weak offsuit hand facing a 2.5x button raise; calling from the small blind would be out of position with poor equity.

King-high with a ten kicker is strong enough to defend the big blind against a 2.5x raise heads-up, but too weak to 3-bet for value. Calling keeps the pot small and positional disadvantage manageable.

I only have king-high on an ace-high board with no bet to call; checking is free and I can fold to aggression.

Top pair with a strong kicker on a board with a flush draw; bet for value and protection against the BB's calling range, roughly two-thirds pot.

King-high with no draw on an ace board against a preflop raiser's flop bet is too weak to continue; folding minimizes loss.

4s6d offsuit is a very weak disconnected hand even on the button in 3-handed play; calling or raising risks chips with poor equity and playability.

82o is weak but heads-up in position for only 50 more; folding gives up too much equity against the BB's wide range.

Button folded, small blind limped. 8h5h suited is a decent hand to see a flop with position for free; raising is marginal and checking realizes equity cheaply.

I flopped trips with 8c on 8s8dJc. Checking induces a bluff or value bet from seat_1 before I raise later streets.

I flopped trips with 8h on an 8-8-J board after the small blind limped and checked; betting for value is clearly best since the pot is small and I want to build it against hands like Jx, pairs, or draws.

I flopped trip eights with 8c on an 8s8d board; I'll raise for value while keeping the pot manageable against seat_1's flop bet.

We flopped trips with a weak kicker; the check-raise is polarized between 8x/JJ and bluffs/Jx, so calling keeps bluffs in and controls the pot while we evaluate turn action.

I hold trip eights plus the turn ten, giving eights full of tens — near-nuts. Betting for value against seat_1's flop check-raise range; stacks are deep so I keep the raise moderate to keep worse hands in.

Trips with a weak kicker on a paired board; we're ahead of many limped-SB hands (Jx, JT two pair, draws, weaker 8x) but behind full houses and better kickers. Calling at 3:1 keeps the pot controlled rather than bloating it with a hand that's rarely ahead of a raise.

My 8c2h makes trip eights with a weak kicker; after the opponent called a turn raise, better eights, straights, or full houses are likely. Checking minimizes losses on the river.

Trips with a 5 kicker on 88JTQ loses to any 9, AK, better 8x and full houses; opponent's check-raise/turn-bet line is strong and a river check can easily be a trap. Checking back takes a free showdown with a medium-strength hand that few worse hands would call a bet with.

7c2c is the worst type of hand even on the button; folding preserves chips with no fold equity worth pursuing.

Button folded, so it's SB vs BB heads-up; J2s is a reasonable raise in SB vs BB blind-vs-blind spot to take initiative and often win the pot preflop, better than completing and playing passively out of position.

K5 suited has good equity against a small-blind open after the button folded, and I will be in position postflop getting 2-to-1 to call.

As preflop raiser out of position on a dry Q-high board, a small c-bet with J2s (backdoor flush draw, overcard to 7) picks up the pot often against a BB caller's wide range; sizing is cheap relative to the 600 pot.

In position against a small one-third pot c-bet, K-high with backdoor hearts has enough equity and showdown value to float rather than overfold.

J2s has only gutshot-less jack-high on Q-9-7-3 with two clubs; opponent called flop bet so continuing to barrel with no equity and no blockers is poor. Check and give up or realize cheap showdown.

With only king-high and no meaningful draw, checking takes a free river card for my overcard outs rather than bluffing into the preflop raiser who bet the flop.

Jack-high has no showdown value; the river completed the club flush, so a 60% pot bet represents a flush/strong hand and folds out weaker pairs and missed draws from a range that checked back the turn.

King-high with no pair loses to any value bet on this three-club, queen-high board, and the river bet after a turn check is unlikely to be bluffing often enough to justify calling 600.