A♣5♣ BTN vs BB, preflop, 60 bb
The spot
- You: BTN
- Opponent: BB
- Your hand: A♣5♣
- Board: preflop, no board yet
- Effective stack: 60 bb
- Pot: 12 bb
6‑max reg battle node with meaningful frequency tradeoffs.
Best core-reg decision?
See the answer
Best play: Raise
Why
A‑5 suited is the textbook aggression hand: RAISE here means you apply pressure with a holding that blocks villains best value while still having a draw to fall back on. The ace blocks A‑A and A‑K, the wheel suit makes nut flushes and 5-high straights, and that combination of fold equity plus playability when called is exactly why this is a raise rather than a passive flat.
Key idea
Wheel suited aces are premier aggression hands: they block the top of villains value range while retaining nut-draw equity, so they raise as the bluff side of a polar range.
Common mistake
Treating A‑5 suited as a weak ace and flatting or folding, wasting its blocker and nut-draw value that make aggression so profitable.