A♥J♥ BTN vs BB, turn on Q♠ 9♦ 4♣ 2♠, 90 bb
The spot
- You: BTN
- Opponent: BB
- Your hand: A♥J♥
- Board: Q♠ 9♦ 4♣ 2♠
- Effective stack: 90 bb
- Pot: 10 bb
Hero arrives on turn with equity and blocker leverage.
What action realizes the most EV in solver baseline?
See the answer
Best play: Call
Why
The 2♠ is a total brick that changes nothing about ranges or equities on Q‑9‑4‑2. Your A♥J♥ is just ace-high with the ace as a clean overcard to the board and a backdoor-dead holding, but the ace blocks villain's strong A-x value and you have position. Facing the BB's turn bet, calling is the right low-variance line: you bluff‑catch/float with the best ace-high and overcard outs, keep villain's bluffs in, and deny yourself nothing by avoiding a raise that only folds out worse and gets called by better.
Key idea
On a brick turn, your strong ace-high with the ace blocker is a call, not a raise that only gets you in trouble.
Common mistake
Turning ace-high into a raise/bluff here folds out worse and only gets called by pairs that beat you.