A♠7♠ CO vs BB, flop on K♠ 7♦ 3♣, 85 bb
The spot
- You: CO
- Opponent: BB
- Your hand: A♠7♠
- Board: K♠ 7♦ 3♣
- Effective stack: 85 bb
- Pot: 5.5 bb
Hero can c‑bet at high frequency in this in-position solver node.
Which flop line captures value while managing equity denial?
See the answer
Best play: Bet 75% pot
Why
K♠7♦3♣ is a dry, disconnected board where the CO preflop raiser enjoys a clear range and nut advantage over the BB. Your A♠7♠ flopped middle pair (the 7) with the ace as a strong overcard kicker plus a backdoor spade draw. The big 75% sizing leans on equity denial against the BB's many overcards and gutshots, but middle pair is a marginal made hand — a small 33% range bet (or even a check) usually realizes more EV than bloating the pot.
Key idea
Middle pair on a dry king-high board prefers a small range bet or check; a polarizing big bet bloats the pot with a marginal made hand.
Common mistake
Big-betting middle pair for equity denial overcommits a marginal hand and folds out only worse holdings.