QQ on 9♠ 6♦ 2♣, checked to you — bet or check?
The answer
Bet
small c-bet · ⅓ pot
Best size: ⅓ pot · $4
The math: Queens are an overpair to a dry, disconnected board — you're ahead of essentially everything that calls.
Why
Your queens are an overpair to a dry, low, disconnected flop — you're ahead of the whole board and almost nothing draws well against you. Betting gets called by worse pairs and the odd draw, and it charges the overcards that would beat you if they caught a free river. There's no reason to hand out a free card when you're this far in front, so lead out for value. The solver bets here almost every time.
The spot
- Your seat
- BTN
- Stakes and stacks
- $1 / $2 · 100bb
- Your hand
- Q♣ Q♦
- Board
- 9♠ 6♦ 2♣
- Pot
- POT · $12
- Action on you
- BB checks
Every option
Checktake a free card
Why not: Checking hands the worse pairs and the overcards a free card, and wins nothing from the many hands 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 board is a textbook c-bet: you're ahead of the entire calling range and you deny overcards a free look at a card that beats you. When nothing draws well against you, a small bet does the whole job.
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.