A♣4♣ BB vs SB, preflop, 70 bb
The spot
- You: BB
- Opponent: SB
- Your hand: A♣4♣
- Board: preflop, no board yet
- Effective stack: 70 bb
- Pot: 8 bb
Folded to hero preflop in 6‑max.
What is the strongest default preflop action?
See the answer
Best play: Raise / 3-bet
Why
Action is on hero in the BB with only the SB involved, so hero is the aggressor raising rather than 3-betting a prior open. A♣4♣ is A4 SUITED, a strong raising hand here: the ace blocks the SB premiums (AA, AK), the wheel ace makes nut flushes and the wheel straight, and isolating the SB heads-up with the nut-flush blocker prints. Raise.
Key idea
Wheel suited aces are premium aggression hands heads-up: the ace blocker shrinks the opponent strong range while the nut-flush and wheel potential give you the best draws. Read the suits: A4 with both clubs is suited, not offsuit.
Common mistake
Treating A4s as a weak ace to fold or just check, or misreading it as offsuit; the nut-flush blocker and the ace blocker make raising the SB clearly best.