9♠8♠ SB vs BTN, flop on K♠ J♠ 7♥, 90 bb
The spot
- You: SB
- Opponent: BTN
- Your hand: 9♠8♠
- Board: K♠ J♠ 7♥
- Effective stack: 90 bb
- Pot: 12 bb
Hero chooses between call, raise, and controlled passivity.
What action keeps the highest practical EV?
See the answer
Best play: Call
Why
On K♠J♠7♥ the BTN raiser holds the range and nut edge; hero is OOP from the SB and capped. With 9♠8♠ hero has no pair but a huge draw: the spade flush draw (9 outs, with K♠J♠ on board) plus an open-ended straight draw (any T or 6 makes the straight). That combined equity is far too strong to fold and not yet strong enough to bloat the pot, so the right line is to check and call the c‑bet, paying the cheap price to realize roughly 15 clean outs.
Key idea
OOP with a big combo draw and no fold equity edge, check-calling realizes equity cheaply without bloating the pot face-up.
Common mistake
Folding a 15-out combo draw because it is 'only nine-high', or check-raising it OOP into the BTN's range-advantaged c‑bet.