AQo on 7♥ 6♣ 5♠, checked to you — bet or check?
The answer
Check
take a free showdown
The math: 7-6-5 smashes the caller: nothing worse calls, everything better raises.
Why
This low, connected flop is the caller’s dream. They called pre with the suited connectors and small pairs that just made straights, two pair and sets. Your ace-high missed, but it still beats their busted hands, so it holds real showdown value. Bet and you fold out everything worse while every better hand calls or raises, bloating the pot as the underdog. Check, keep it small, take the free showdown.
The spot
- Your seat
- CO
- Stakes and stacks
- $1 / $2 · 100bb
- Your hand
- A♦ Q♠
- Board
- 7♥ 6♣ 5♠
- Pot
- POT · $12
- Action on you
- BB checks
Every option
Checktake a free showdownCorrect
Betfire a c-bet
⅓ pot · $4 · ⅔ pot · $8 · pot · $12
Why not: Betting folds out every hand you already beat and gets called only by better. You’d grow the pot as the underdog.
The idea behind it
Low, connected flops connect with the hands a caller defends, their suited connectors and small pairs. Bet a marginal made hand into that and only better hands continue, so checking to reach showdown beats bloating the pot.
Concept: Check back
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.