AKo on K♠ T♦ 5♣ facing a check-raise — fold, call or raise?
The answer
Call
call $30, keep them in
The math: call $30 · top pair top kicker beats every worse king, pair and draw; only two pair and sets are ahead, so keep them bluffing.
Why
Top pair with the best possible kicker: no king beats you and no ace outkicks you. A check-raise is polarised — a few two pair and sets that crush you, but also worse kings, pairs and draws hoping to push you off it. Fold and you hand the pot to bluffs. Raise and you fold out everything you beat, getting called only by hands that have you. So call, keep the worse hands in, and let them keep firing.
The spot
- Your seat
- BTN
- Stakes and stacks
- $1 / $2 · 100bb
- Your hand
- A♣ K♦
- Board
- K♠ T♦ 5♣
- Pot
- POT · $30
- Action on you
- BB check-raises to $40
Every option
Foldgive it up
Why not: This is the best kicker to the top pair on the board — far too strong to fold. A raise holds plenty of worse kings, pairs and draws, and folding hands the pot to every bluff.
Callcall $30, keep them inCorrect
Raisere-raise for value
2.5x · $100 · all-in
Why not: Raising folds out every worse king, pair and draw you're already beating, and gets called only by two pair and sets. You'd turn a hand that beats most of their range into one that only sees action from hands that crush you.
The idea behind it
A bluff-catcher beats the bluffs in your opponent's range and loses to the value. Raising it is a mistake: it folds out the weaker hands and invites action only from stronger ones. Call, stay in front of most of the range, and let the weak hands keep bluffing into you.
Concept: Strong bluff-catcher
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.