K♦9♦ CO vs BTN, preflop, 80 bb
The spot
- You: CO
- Opponent: BTN
- Your hand: K♦9♦
- Board: preflop, no board yet
- Effective stack: 80 bb
- Pot: 3.5 bb
Folded to hero preflop in 6‑max.
What is the strongest default preflop action?
See the answer
Best play: Raise / 3-bet
Why
Folded to hero in the CO, so this is a first-in open. K♦9♦ is K9 SUITED: the shared diamonds give nut-flush-blocker-free flush potential, backdoor straights, and clean dominance over the K-x and 9-x the blinds defend. From the CO this is an easy, profitable open-raise, well inside the roughly 26-28% RFI range.
Key idea
Read suits carefully: K♦9♦ is suited, which adds flush and backdoor equity that pushes a marginal-looking K9 firmly into the CO opening range.
Common mistake
Misreading K♦9♦ as offsuit and folding it: the suitedness is exactly what makes this a clear CO open, and there is no one to call since action folded to hero.