Showdown Hold'em table

Pocket eights are 33+ and in the published optimal 4x preflop range, maximizing value with a strong made pair.

Q4 offsuit is below the Q8o+ threshold for an optimal preflop 4x raise, so checking preserves EV and lets me evaluate the flop.

Middle pair of 4s with a Q kicker on a K-high board is marginal and likely below 50% equity against a random dealer over all runouts, so checking preserves the cheaper 1x river decision with fold option on bad cards.

We have two pair Kings and Fours with an Ace kicker on a board where the dealer always qualifies. Exact river enumeration gives us a clear majority win rate against random dealer holdings, well above the ~20% needed to raise 1x rather than fold.

8c3d is offsuit and below the published 4x raising range (33+, any ace, K5o+, Q8o+, JTo etc.), so checking preserves the option to raise 2x on the flop or 1x/fold on the river.

Bottom pair beats all unpaired dealer hands and has two-pair/trip outs against higher pairs; with over 50% showdown equity, raising 2x now is better than waiting for only a 1x river bet.

9-7 offsuit is below the optimal 4x/3x preflop raising range (33+, any ace, strong K/Q/J hands), so checking preserves the option to raise 2x on the flop or 1x/fold on the river.

Bottom pair plus an open-ended straight draw to the ten gives strong equity and multiple ways to improve to a straight or two pair, making a 2x flop raise more profitable than checking for only 1x later.

JTo is in the published optimal 4x preflop range (J8s+ or JTo), so raising 4x maximizes expected value.

K9o is above the K5o+ threshold in the published optimal 4x preflop table, so raising 4x maximizes expected value.

6-4 suited is below the optimal 4x raising range (33+, any ace, K2s+/K5o+, Q6s+/Q8o+, J8s+/JTo), so checking preserves the option to raise 2x on a favorable flop or 1x/fold on the river.

With 6-high, only a two-card straight draw and backdoor hearts on Ts-5d-9c, equity is far too low to commit a 2x raise; checking preserves the option to raise 1x or fold on the river.

Board pairs tens, so dealer always qualifies and almost always beats my TT with Q-9-6 kickers; only about 40 of 990 dealer holdings lose and 33 tie, making a 1x raise worse than folding and losing ante plus blind.

A6 offsuit is any ace, which is in the published optimal 4x preflop raising range.

A4 offsuit is any ace, which is in the published optimal 4x preflop range, so raising 4x maximizes expected value.

2c3h is far below the optimal 4x raising range (33+, any ace, strong K/Q/J), so checking to see the flop cheaply maximizes EV.

With only a gutshot-to-open straight draw (A or 6) and no made hand on the flop, raising 2x risks extra chips with low equity. Checking is free and preserves the option to raise 1x on the river if the straight completes or fold if it misses.

Board pair of 7s with 8-5-4 kickers is my best hand; dealer shares those kickers and only ties with low 2-3 non-diamond, non-paired holdings, otherwise any high card, pair, straight or flush wins, so raising has far worse EV than folding.

T5 offsuit is below the optimal 4x raising range (33+, any ace, K5o+, Q8o+, JTo or better suited equivalents), so checking preserves the option to raise 2x on a favorable flop or 1x/fold on the river.

Only ten-high with three diamonds and no pair or strong straight draw; raising 2x is negative EV, so check to see turn/river cheaply.

With trip 9s and a ten kicker, most dealer holdings make a full house, quads, or a higher kicker; exact enumeration gives too few wins and ties to justify the 1x raise versus folding.

6s4s is outside the optimal preflop 4x range (33+, any ace, K2s+/K5o+, Q6s+/Q8o+, J8s+/JTo), so checking preserves the option to raise 2x on a favorable flop or 1x/fold on the river.

Pair of sixes on an ace-high board is only marginal against a random dealer hand, with many overcard and ace holdings ahead or able to overtake. Checking preserves the option to raise 1x on favorable runouts or fold on bad ones rather than committing 2x now.

Pair of sixes beats dealer's ace-high non-qualifying hands and lower pairs; exact river enumeration gives about -6.5 chips EV for raising versus -20 chips for folding.

8c2c suited is below the published 4x raising range (33+, any ace, K2s+/K5o+, Q6s+/Q8o+, J8s+/JTo), so checking preserves option to raise later with more information.

Ace-high with only backdoor club and straight draws is too weak to commit 2x on the flop. Checking preserves the option to raise 1x on the river if the runout improves the hand.

Two pair 6s and 2s with ace kicker beats about 55% of dealer holdings and ties about 7%, and the board pair means the dealer always qualifies; raising 1x has EV near zero, far better than folding for -2 antes.

A6 suited is any ace, which is in the published optimal 4x preflop range, so raising 4x maximizes expected value.

Q7 offsuit is below the published 4x threshold of Q8o+ (Q6s+ suited), so checking preserves option to raise 2x on a favorable flop.

Board pair gives only a Q kicker with two cards to come and dealer always qualifies on this board; equity is below the threshold to commit 2x, so check to use river information and raise 1x or fold then.

Two pair, sevens and fives with a queen kicker, beats most dealer holdings on this paired board; exact enumeration gives about 69.6% wins and 0.6% ties, making a 1x raise clearly better than folding.

J6 offsuit is below the published 4x range (J8s+ or JTo), so raising preflop has negative expectation. Checking preserves the option to raise 2x on a favorable flop or 1x/fold on the river.

Top pair on a dry J-5-2 board has roughly 70% showdown equity against a random dealer hand, well above the threshold where committing 2x now beats waiting for a 1x river raise, whose fold option is rarely valuable.

T9 offsuit is below the published 4x raising range (JTo+ for jack-high hands), so checking preserves EV and lets me evaluate the flop before committing.

No pair, no flush draw, and only a weak two-card straight draw with ten-high; raising 2x is negative EV versus checking to see the turn and river for a cheaper 1x decision.

On a paired 4-5-8-4-7 board I have only a pair of fours with T-9-8 kickers. Any dealer 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, pocket pair, or Jack-or-better kicker beats me, leaving well under the ~20% win equity needed to call.

Any ace qualifies for the optimal preflop 4x raise per the published table; ATo is strong enough to maximize value now rather than check.

A2 offsuit is any ace, which is in the published optimal preflop 4x raising range.

Any ace is in the published optimal 4x preflop range, so raising 4x maximizes expected value over checking.

K2 offsuit is below the optimal 4x raising range (K2s+ or K5o+), so checking preserves the option to raise later with more information.

King-high with only an 8-out straight draw (A or 6) and backdoor clubs is behind most dealer hands and well below 50% equity, so paying 2x now is negative; checking preserves the option to raise 1x only if the draw completes.

Board pair of 8s with K kicker wins about 27% and ties about 1% against random dealer holdings, above the ~20% needed for a 1x raise to beat folding.

9c4c is below the optimal 4x raising range (33+, any ace, K2s+/K5o+, Q6s+/Q8o+, J8s+/JTo), so checking preserves the option to raise 2x on a favorable flop or 1x/fold on the river.

With 9-high, no made hand and only weak backdoor draws on a three-spade flop, raising 2x is negative EV; checking is free and preserves optimal river play.

Pair of 9s beats dealer's high-card and lower-pair holdings often enough that raising EV is about -1.45 ante versus -2 ante for folding, despite many flush/straight losses.

9c3c is below the optimal 4x raising range (33+, any ace, K2s+/K5o+, Q6s+/Q8o+, J8s+/JTo), so checking preserves option to raise 2x on a good flop or 1x/fold on the river.

Bottom pair of 3s on a T-6-3 board is well below the equity needed to commit 2x now. Checking is free and lets me re-evaluate on the river with full information, raising 1x only if still ahead.

Two pair 6s and 3s beats a lone board pair of 6s in most dealer holdings; exact river enumeration gives more wins than losses, and raising loses far less on average than folding the ante and blind.

Q5 suited is below the published 4x threshold of Q6s+, so checking preserves the option to raise 2x on the flop or 1x on the river with more information.

With only a Q-high flush draw on the flop, checking preserves the option to fold missed rivers for just the ante and blind, while raising 2x risks extra chips with insufficient made-hand equity.

We have a Q-high flush on a paired board. Dealer only wins with a higher heart flush, a full house/quads, or a straight flush — about 43 of 990 holdings — so raising 1x has far higher EV than folding.

65o is below the optimal 4x raising range (33+, any ace, K2s+/K5o+, Q6s+/Q8o+, J8s+/JTo), so checking preserves option to raise 2x on a favorable flop or fold cheaply on the river.

Bottom pair of 5s on an A-Q board is marginal with no flush or straight possible; checking preserves the option to raise 1x on the river only on favorable runouts rather than committing 2x now.

Pair of fives beats all ace-high non-qualifying dealer hands and lower pairs; exact river enumeration gives a raise EV of about -7.8 chips versus -20 chips for folding.

4h3d is well below the optimal 4x raising range of pairs 33+, any ace, and strong K/Q/J hands. Checking preserves the option to raise 2x on a favorable flop or fold later at minimal cost.

Bottom pair of 3s with a weak kicker is too vulnerable to commit 2x now with no fold equity against the house. Checking preserves the option to raise 1x on favorable runouts or fold on bad rivers.

Our pair of 3s beats all dealer high-card hands and pair of 2s, about 485 of 990 holdings with 14 ties; raising loses about 9 chips on average versus 20 chips for folding.

9-4 offsuit is well below the optimal 4x/3x raising range (33+, any ace, strong K/Q/J hands), so checking preserves the option to raise 2x on a favorable flop or fold later.

Weak 9-high with only a gutshot to the 8 and pair outs on a 6-7-T two-spade board; equity is too low to commit 2x now, so check to realize the draw cheaply and decide 1x or fold on the river.

With a pair of 9s on the river, raising loses only 30 when beaten but wins 10-20 against non-qualifying or lower-pair dealer hands; the exact count gives about -7.9 chips versus -20 for folding.

Pocket 2s are below the published 4x range of 33+, so raising 4x or 3x preflop is not optimal. Check to see the flop cheaply and decide later.

Pocket deuces are only an underpair on a coordinated T-9-8 board with no flush or straight draw and roughly sub-50% equity, so committing 2x now is worse than checking and using optimal 1x/fold play on the river.

With a pair of 2s on Q-T-9-8-3, dealer loses with unpaired non-straight holdings from A,K,7,6,5,4,2 excluding 6-7: 272 of 990 holdings, plus one 2-2 tie. Win probability ~27.5% exceeds the 25% needed for a 1x raise versus folding.

T5 offsuit is below the optimal 4x raising range (33+, any ace, K5o+, Q8o+, JTo etc.), so checking preserves option to raise 2x on flop or 1x/fold on river.

With only ten-high, three spades and no made hand or strong four-card draw on a Q-9-3 flop, raising 2x has negative expectation versus checking and re-evaluating on the river.

Board pair of 3s gives Q-T-9 kickers; dealer wins with any board pair, pocket pair, trips, two diamonds, or A/K/J kicker. Only about 134 of 990 holdings win and 52 tie, so raising 1x has lower EV than folding.

5s7d offsuit is well below the optimal 4x raising range of pairs 33+, any ace, and strong king/queen/jack hands. Checking preserves the option to raise 2x on a favorable flop or 1x/fold on the river.

With only an open-ended straight draw and no pair on the flop, raising 2x risks extra chips with well under 50% showdown equity. Checking preserves the option to raise 1x when the straight completes and to fold cheaply when it misses.

I have a 4-5-6-7-8 straight on this board; only 9-T dealer holdings beat it and 5-7 ties, so raising 1x has far higher expected value than folding and losing ante and blind.