Q♠T♠ SB vs BTN, river on A♣ 8♦ 5♣ 5♥ 2♠, 55 bb
The spot
- You: SB
- Opponent: BTN
- Your hand: Q♠T♠
- Board: A♣ 8♦ 5♣ 5♥ 2♠
- Effective stack: 55 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♠ is ace-high and paired on fives, so the BTN's value is Ax, fives, and the odd full house while missed clubs and broadways gave up. Hero holds Q♠T♠ — queen-high with no pair, no flush and no straight: pure busted air with showdown value only against other complete misses. From OOP, checking is correct — there is no worse made hand to value-bet and betting only folds out the air you already beat while getting called by everything better, so hero checks to realize whatever showdown equity Q-high retains.
Key idea
Queen-high air on the river has no worse hand to bet for value and no fold equity worth taking, so check and take the cheapest showdown.
Common mistake
Turning a pure missed hand with showdown value into a bet that only folds out worse and gets called by better.