Q♠J♠ CO vs BB, river on J♦ 8♠ 5♣ 9♠ 2♦, 100 bb
The spot
- You: CO
- Opponent: BB
- Your hand: Q♠J♠
- Board: J♦ 8♠ 5♣ 9♠ 2♦
- Effective stack: 100 bb
- Pot: 23.5 bb
Advanced node: capped range attack opportunity.
Best advanced line?
See the answer
Best play: Bet 40% pot
Why
River, board J-diamond 8-spade 5-club 9-spade 2-diamond. The jack is the top board card. With Q-spade J-spade you have top pair (jacks) with the best possible kicker, the queen — there is no straight (you would need a ten) and no flush. Against the capped BB this is a clear thin-value hand: a 40% bet gets called by worse jacks, nines, eights and pair-plus-draw type holdings, while a polar overbet would fold those out and only be paid by two pair and straights. Small merged value extracts the most from the BB worse made hands.
Key idea
Top pair with the top kicker on the river is a thin/merged value bet against a capped range — size small to keep worse pairs in rather than overbetting and isolating only better hands.
Common mistake
Overbetting top pair and folding out all the worse pairs that would have paid a small bet, or checking back a clear value hand out of fear of two pair.