AA on 8♥ 4♦ 2♠, checked to you — bet or check?
The answer
Bet
small c-bet · ⅓ pot
Best size: ⅓ pot · $4
The math: Aces are an overpair to a low, disconnected rainbow board — you're ahead of everything that calls.
Why
Your aces are an overpair to a dry, low, disconnected 8-4-2 rainbow — you're ahead of the whole board and nothing draws well against you. Betting gets called by worse pairs and by the overcards that would beat you if they hit, so you build the pot and charge them at the same time. There's no flush or straight draw to worry about, so a small bet does the whole job — never hand out a free card when you're this far in front. The solver bets 100% of the time here.
The spot
- Your seat
- BTN
- Stakes and stacks
- $1 / $2 · 100bb
- Your hand
- A♠ A♣
- Board
- 8♥ 4♦ 2♠
- Pot
- POT · $12
- Action on you
- BB checks
Every option
Checktake a free card
Why not: Checking hands the overcards a free card to outdraw your aces and wins nothing from the worse pairs that would happily have paid off a bet.
Betsmall c-bet · ⅓ potCorrect
⅓ pot · $4 · ⅔ pot · $8 · pot · $12
The idea behind it
An overpair on a dry, low, disconnected board is a textbook value c-bet: you're ahead of the entire calling range and you deny the overcards a free look at a card that 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.