AJo on K♠ 9♦ 4♣ facing a check-raise — fold, call or raise?
The answer
Fold
Give up ace-high
The math: Ace-high with no pair against a check-raise: call $30 to win $70 → need 30%, and A♠J♦ has nowhere close.
Why
You have ace-jack high — no pair, only the ace as an overcard — on a K♠9♦4♣ board. A check-raise here is built from sets, two pair, Kx and the odd strong draw, and A♠J♦ beats almost none of it while trailing all of it. Calling needs 30% equity and you're miles short; jamming as a bluff only folds out hands you already beat. The solver folds this 100% of the time — let it go and keep your Button initiative for better spots.
The spot
- Your seat
- BTN
- Stakes and stacks
- $1 / $2 · 100bb
- Your hand
- A♠ J♦
- Board
- K♠ 9♦ 4♣
- Pot
- POT · $30
- Action on you
- BB check-raises to $40
Every option
FoldGive up ace-highCorrect
CallPeel with an overcard
Why not: Calling needs 30% equity, but ace-high whiffs against sets, two pair and Kx on a rainbow board — you're drawing thin to pairing the ace.
RaiseRe-raise as a bluff
2.5x · $100 · all-in
Why not: Jamming turns A♠J♦ into a pure bluff with no fold equity, and his check-raising range is made hands that snap you off.
The idea behind it
Overcards with no pair, no draw and no fold equity are a fold to aggression — you continue only with real equity or a credible bluff.
Concept: No equity
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.