88 on 8♦ 5♣ 2♥, checked to you — bet or check?
The answer
Bet
⅓ pot · $4 for value
Best size: ⅓ pot · $4
The math: A flopped set on a dry 8-5-2 rainbow is a monster — worse pairs and floats will still call a bet.
Why
Three eights on 8♦ 5♣ 2♥ is very close to the nuts. The rainbow board brings no flush draw, and the straight draws it allows — an open-ender or two, a few gutshots — draw nearly dead against your set and are happy to pay. Betting builds the pot now, while worse pairs, those draws and curious floats call. Checking wins the minimum and hands out a free card that could bring a scare. Last to act with a monster, you bet — the solver does it 100% of the time.
The spot
- Your seat
- BTN
- Stakes and stacks
- $1 / $2 · 100bb
- Your hand
- 8♠ 8♣
- Board
- 8♦ 5♣ 2♥
- Pot
- POT · $12
- Action on you
- BB checks
Every option
Checkslow-play the set
Why not: Checking a flopped set wins the minimum and gives a free card, when worse pairs and floats would gladly have called a bet.
Bet⅓ pot · $4 for valueCorrect
⅓ pot · $4 · ⅔ pot · $8 · pot · $12
The idea behind it
A flopped set wants the pot to grow. On a dry board with nothing to protect against, bet small and often — worse hands keep calling and the money goes in while you're miles ahead.
Concept: Value betting
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.