A♦5♦ SB vs BTN, river on K♠ T♥ 7♠ 6♣ 2♠, 70 bb
The spot
- You: SB
- Opponent: BTN
- Your hand: A♦5♦
- Board: K♠ T♥ 7♠ 6♣ 2♠
- Effective stack: 70 bb
- Pot: 14.5 bb
Population tendencies shape exploit windows in this high-EV branch.
Choose the strongest exploit-aware baseline.
See the answer
Best play: Check
Why
River (K‑T‑7‑6‑2). SB vs BTN, hero is out of position and acts first. The board shows three spades (K‑7‑2 of spades) but hero holds A‑5 of diamonds, so hero has no spade and no pair: this is just ace-high, a bluff‑catcher that beats only missed draws. Crucially the A-diamond does not block the spade flush, so betting would only fold out worse and get called by everything better; checking to take the cheapest showdown is correct.
Key idea
On the river ace-high with no flush blocker is a pure check-or-give-up; it can only fold out worse and gets called by better.
Common mistake
Bluffing because hero holds an ace; the A-diamond does not block the spade flush, so it has no blocker value here.