A♥5♥ BTN vs BB, flop on A♦ 8♣ 2♥, 95 bb
The spot
- You: BTN
- Opponent: BB
- Your hand: A♥5♥
- Board: A♦ 8♣ 2♥
- Effective stack: 95 bb
- Pot: 8.5 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, ace-high board where you as the BTN preflop raiser hold a big range and nut advantage over the BB. A♥5♥ flops top pair (aces) with a weak kicker plus a backdoor heart flush draw, a clear value hand that wants to keep worse aces and pairs in. The 33% range bet is correct: it extracts thin value, denies equity to overcards and gutshots cheaply, and lets you bet your whole range on a board that misses the BB.
Key idea
On dry ace-high flops the in-position raiser range-bets small to extract thin value and deny equity cheaply.
Common mistake
Checking back top pair here surrenders value and lets the BB's overcards and gutshots realize equity for free.