Q♠T♠ CO vs BB, river on A♣ 8♦ 5♣ 5♥ 2♠, 65 bb
The spot
- You: CO
- Opponent: BB
- Your hand: Q♠T♠
- Board: A♣ 8♦ 5♣ 5♥ 2♠
- Effective stack: 65 bb
- Pot: 14 bb
This river node requires thin value and bluff‑catch discipline.
Choose the highest-EV river action.
See the answer
Best play: Check
Why
Final board A♣8♦5♣5♥2♠: the board paired fives and an ace tops it. Hero's Q♠T♠ never connected — it is pure queen-high air with no pair, no flush, nothing but two overcards to nothing. As a value bet it beats only other busted hands, and as a bluff it holds no useful blocker to the ace-x and fives the BB calls with. In position after a check, the correct play is to check back and give up: there is no worse hand to bet for value and no profitable bluff target on this dry, ace-high runout.
Key idea
Queen-high with no blockers on a paired ace-high board is a pure give-up — check back.
Common mistake
Turning queen-high into a bluff with no blocker value, betting into a range that never folds an ace.