A♠7♠ BTN vs BB, flop on A♦ 8♣ 2♥, 65 bb
The spot
- You: BTN
- Opponent: BB
- Your hand: A♠7♠
- Board: A♦ 8♣ 2♥
- Effective stack: 65 bb
- Pot: 4 bb
Single-raised pot, hero is in position after raising preflop.
What sizing is best in baseline strategy?
See the answer
Best play: Bet 33% pot
Why
A♦8♣2♥ is a dry, disconnected ace-high board, and as the BTN preflop raiser you hold a clear range and nut advantage over the BB. Your A♠7♠ is top pair with a weak kicker — a hand that wants to get thin value and deny the BB's overcards/backdoors a free card. The textbook line is a small 33% range bet: it folds out the BB's air, gets called by worse aces and pairs, and keeps the pot manageable with a thin-kicker top pair.
Key idea
On a dry ace-high board the PFR can range-bet small for thin value and equity denial.
Common mistake
Checking back top pair here surrenders thin value and a free card to the BB's overcards — on a dry ace board the small c‑bet is almost free.