9♠9♦ BTN vs BB, river on J♠ 7♣ 4♦ T♦ 3♠, 70 bb
The spot
- You: BTN
- Opponent: BB
- Your hand: 9♠9♦
- Board: J♠ 7♣ 4♦ T♦ 3♠
- Effective stack: 70 bb
- Pot: 24.5 bb
This river node requires thin value and bluff‑catch discipline.
Choose the highest-EV river action.
See the answer
Best play: Bet 40% pot
Why
Final board J♠ 7♣ 4♦ T♦ 3♠: no flush completed and the straight (89) is the only made draw, so BB's value is J-x and T-x plus the rare two pair, while busted diamond and gutshot combos are the air. Your 9♠ 9♦ is an underpair below both the J and the T — it beats 7-x, 4-x and busted draws but loses to every J-x/T-x. A 40% bet is borderline thin value: it can fold out some 7-x/air and occasionally get called by a worse pair, but against an in-position bluff‑catch range the equity is razor-thin, so checking back is also fine. Bet small at most; never overbet a hand that better pairs snap-call.
Key idea
Thin value vs check: a low pair on a dry river bets small only if worse pairs/air still call, otherwise check.
Common mistake
Betting too big with a low pair below the board's top cards — it turns showdown value into a bet only better hands call.