AJs on J♠ 7♥ 2♣, checked to you — bet or check?
The answer
Bet
bet small for value
The math: A♦J♦ is the best jack on J♠ 7♥ 2♣ — worse jacks, small pairs and gutshots all pay, and the solver bets it about nine times in ten.
Why
You raised pre and flopped top pair with the best kicker on a bone-dry J-7-2 — you're ahead of every other jack and almost the whole board. Bet for value: worse jacks, pocket pairs and the odd gutshot all call, and none of them fold a hand you'd rather keep out. Checking wins the minimum and gifts a free card to the very hands that could outdraw you. The solver fires about nine times in ten — this is a hand that wants the pot to grow.
The spot
- Your seat
- CO
- Stakes and stacks
- $1 / $2 · 100bb
- Your hand
- A♦ J♦
- Board
- J♠ 7♥ 2♣
- Pot
- POT · $12
- Action on you
- BB checks
Every option
Checkkeep the pot small
Why not: Checking wins the minimum and hands a free card to the jacks you dominate, the small pairs and the draws — every one of them would have called a bet.
Betbet small for valueCorrect
⅓ pot · $4 · ⅔ pot · $8 · pot · $12
The idea behind it
Top pair with the best kicker on a dry board is a premium value hand — bet it. Worse pairs and draws pay you off, and very little beats you.
Concept: Value c-bet
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.