98s on Q♠ J♥ 4♣ facing a bet — fold, call or raise?
The answer
Fold
give up the hand
The math: Nominal gutshot = 4 tens → ≈8% next card; price = 33%. A-K and K-9 can make higher straights on a ten.
Why
A ten completes your queen-high straight, but it also completes Broadway for A-K and a higher straight for K-9. The direct price already crushes four clean outs; once the dirty outcomes are discounted, folding is mandatory.
The spot
- Your seat
- BB
- Stakes and stacks
- $1 / $2 · 100bb
- Your hand
- 9♦ 8♦
- Board
- Q♠ J♥ 4♣
- Pot
- POT · $20
- Action on you
- CO bets $20 · pot
Every option
Foldgive up the handCorrect
Callcall $20
Why not: A ten is not automatically clean: A-K makes Broadway and K-9 makes a higher king-high straight.
Raisebluff-raise
2.5x · $50 · all-in
Why not: A thin, partly dominated draw is a poor candidate for attacking a pot-size bet.
The idea behind it
Nominal outs are not automatically clean. Before counting a card, ask whether it can complete a higher straight or flush for the range betting into you.
Concept: Counting outs
Terms in this spot
Play it instead of reading it
The trainer deals this hand with hints, grading and spaced repetition — and randomized variations of it once you have seen it.