Q♦J♦ SB vs BTN, flop on T♠ 7♠ 7♦, 70 bb
The spot
- You: SB
- Opponent: BTN
- Your hand: Q♦J♦
- Board: T♠ 7♠ 7♦
- Effective stack: 70 bb
- Pot: 3 bb
6‑max reg battle node with meaningful frequency tradeoffs.
Best core-reg decision?
See the answer
Best play: Raise
Why
On T♠7♠7♦ the paired flop barely improves the BTN's wide c‑betting range, and hero's Q♦J♦ is two overcards with a strong gutshot-plus straight draw (any 8 or 9 brings a straight) plus a backdoor diamond. Hero is OOP and capped but has live equity and good blockers to pairs. From out of position hero check‑raises the c‑bet as a semi-bluff: it folds out the many naked overcards and weak high cards now, and when called the open-ended-style draw and two clean overcards still give plenty of equity.
Key idea
OOP on a paired low flop, overcards with a straight draw make an ideal check‑raise semi-bluff — fold equity plus real outs.
Common mistake
Meekly check-folding two overcards with a straight draw, throwing away both fold equity and a strong drawing hand.