Q♥T♥ CO vs BTN, preflop, 75 bb
The spot
- You: CO
- Opponent: BTN
- Your hand: Q♥T♥
- Board: preflop, no board yet
- Effective stack: 75 bb
- Pot: 8 bb
Villain opens and action is on hero preflop.
Which action keeps the best EV baseline?
See the answer
Best play: Call
Why
Villain opens on the BTN and hero is in CO, so this is a facing-an-open spot where hero can 3‑bet, flat, or fold. Q♥T♥ flats well: it is too strong to fold but a marginal 3‑bet-for-value candidate that plays smoothly postflop with suited broadway equity, so calling realizes its equity without bloating the pot out of position against a wide steal.
Key idea
Against a wide BTN steal, suited broadways that are too good to fold but mediocre as 3‑bets become flats, keeping villain's bluffs and dominated hands in the pot.
Common mistake
Auto-3-betting QTs OOP. It plays better as a flat here; over-3-betting it turns a good flatting hand into a bluff that folds out worse holdings.