A♠8♠ SB vs BTN, preflop, 100 bb
The spot
- You: SB
- Opponent: BTN
- Your hand: A♠8♠
- Board: preflop, no board yet
- Effective stack: 100 bb
- Pot: 3.5 bb
BTN opens 2bb, folded to SB.
Best practical response from SB with A8s?
See the answer
Best play: 3-bet to 8bb
Why
Principle: SB defense OOP suffers from poor equity realization, so the cleanest profitable line is a small linear 3‑bet that captures fold equity preflop. Applied to A8s: the suit + ace blocker reduces BTN nut-combos, and the 8-kicker still dominates wide LP opening hands. So: 3‑bet small to charge their density of opens and play a positional rather than passive node.
Key idea
Out of the SB you avoid weak flats; A8s prefers a small 3‑bet to dodge poor OOP realization and lean on its ace blocker.