Hold'em table

As the button in a three-handed pot, 8-7 offsuit is a reasonable wide open with positional advantage. A small raise applies pressure to the blinds while keeping the risk controlled.

T5 offsuit from the small blind facing a button open to 2.5bb, with the big blind still left to act, is a clear fold. Calling out of position with a weak, dominated hand loses money.

Calling 150 more with pocket threes is reasonable against a button open. The price lets me see a flop without building a large pot out of position.

With a small underpair on an ace-high flop, I prefer to check rather than build the pot out of position.

A small continuation bet uses our preflop range advantage and can fold out unpaired hands. We have some runner-runner straight potential if called.

Pocket threes are a weak underpair on an ace-high board with a flush draw. Out of position and without a heart, continuing against the bet is unlikely to be profitable.

JTo is a clear open from the button in 3-handed play; a standard 2.5bb raise puts pressure on the blinds.

9-6 offsuit is too weak to defend from the small blind against a button raise, especially with the big blind still to act.

K5 offsuit is a reasonable defend from the big blind against a button raise, and the price is favorable. Calling keeps weaker hands in without inflating the pot with a marginal hand.

With only king-high and a backdoor diamond draw, checking is preferable to building a pot. I can reassess if the button bets.

Trip jacks with a decent kicker on a wet, draw-heavy board. A bet builds value from Qx, draws and diamonds while charging them to improve.

K-high has little showdown value and only remote backdoor improvement against a flop bet. Folding avoids investing more with insufficient equity.

On the button, 65 offsuit has enough connectivity to open in a three-handed, no-rake game. A 2.5 big-blind raise gives me a chance to win the blinds while keeping the pot manageable.

A-7 offsuit is playable against a button open, and calling keeps the pot manageable with a hand that can make strong top pairs. Raising would risk inflating the pot out of position against the opener and big blind.

Getting 4:1 in the big blind, K2o has enough raw equity multiway to justify a call despite playing out of position.

With three players on a low, coordinated flop, A-high has some showdown value but little reason to bet into the field. I’ll check and evaluate the action behind me.

K-high with a gutshot-less backdoor-only hand in a 3-way pot, out of position to the preflop raiser; checking is best and we can give up to a c-bet.

Bottom pair with a weak kicker is too thin to value-bet into two opponents on this coordinated flop. Checking in position keeps the pot manageable and lets me see the turn.

With only ace-high and no meaningful draw, betting into two opponents is unlikely to be profitable. I’ll take the free river and preserve showdown value.

King-high with no draw on a paired board; the preflop raiser still acts behind me, so a check keeps the pot small and a stab here is unlikely to get folds from two players.

Trip fives are likely ahead after both opponents checked twice. A 550-chip bet gets value from jacks and draws while charging them to see the river.

With only ace-high and no meaningful draw, calling is too weak, especially with the big blind still to act behind me.

King-high with no pair and no draw on a paired board, facing a roughly pot-sized bet; the 550 call needs about 30% equity, which I don't have. Folding is clearly best.

Q8s is a reasonable button open in a three-handed game. Raising to 250 applies pressure to the blinds while keeping the pot manageable.

J9s in the small blind facing a button open plays poorly as a flat call out of position with the big blind still behind. A 3-bet to 10bb works as a semi-bluff: it has fold equity against a wide button range and good playability when called.

T2 offsuit performs poorly against a large three-bet and the original raiser can still act, so calling 900 chips is not worthwhile.

Q8 suited is too weak to continue against a large 3-bet from the small blind, especially with 7.5 big blinds still to call.

Q7o on the button in 3-handed play is a standard open; raising to 2.5bb puts pressure on both blinds.

Q7 offsuit plays poorly out of position against a button raise, with the big blind still to act.

The button’s small open gives the big blind a favorable price, and 9-5 offsuit has enough raw equity against a wide button range to defend rather than fold.

With 9-high and no meaningful draw on this flop, checking is preferable to investing chips as the out-of-position caller.

Small continuation bet as the preflop raiser in position, using Q7 with backdoor draws as a semi-bluff that can fold out weaker hands and floats.

I have no pair or meaningful immediate draw on this board, so calling the flop raise would be too speculative.

K5 suited is strong enough to open on the button three-handed, and a 2.5 big blind raise gives me a chance to win the blinds or play in position.

Q8 suited has reasonable equity against a button open, and the price is acceptable. Calling keeps weaker hands in while avoiding an unnecessary out-of-position 3-bet.

A3 suited in the big blind is getting 150 to win 600 (4:1), and it has good multiway playability with nut flush potential, so calling is clearly profitable. A squeeze is also possible, but calling keeps the pot manageable.

With three players on a K-high flop, Q-high has little showdown value and no immediate draw. Check and see whether the action improves on the turn.

Bottom pair with an ace kicker on a K-high board in a 3-way pot with the preflop raiser still to act; checking controls the pot and keeps our showdown value.

Top pair on a dry flop is worth a modest value bet after both opponents check. The sizing can get calls from weaker pairs while keeping the pot manageable with a weak kicker.

Q-high has no meaningful immediate draw on this king-high board, and calling risks being squeezed by the player behind. Fold to the sizable flop bet.

Bottom pair with an ace kicker and backdoor potential is getting good odds (300 into 1050, 22%) against a button c-bet on a dry board, so calling is best; raising would fold out worse hands.

The pair on the board gives me two pair with a weak kicker, which is bluff-catcher territory, so I check to control the pot and let the button keep bluffing. I'll call a reasonable bet.

Top pair is likely ahead of many hands that called the small flop bet. A modest turn bet can get value from weaker pairs while limiting losses against a nine or a better king.

Our pair of threes with an ace kicker gets 4:1 on this small turn bet, and it beats villain's barreling bluffs and weaker pairs. Calling keeps the pot controlled against their Kx.

Our third pair with an ace kicker has showdown value but can't be bet for value against the button's barreling range. Checking keeps the pot controlled and lets us react to a river bet.

Top pair has showdown value, but a third bet with a five kicker is unlikely to get called by enough worse hands to justify it.