K♠5♠ SB vs BTN, river on J♦ 8♠ 5♣ 9♠ 2♦, 100 bb
The spot
- You: SB
- Opponent: BTN
- Your hand: K♠5♠
- Board: J♦ 8♠ 5♣ 9♠ 2♦
- Effective stack: 100 bb
- Pot: 23.5 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 J 8 5 9 2 rainbow, no flush completed (you hold only K and 5 of spades). Your K5s makes bottom pair of fives with a king kicker, which on the river is a pure bluff‑catcher and showdown hand. As the OOP SB into the BTN, overbetting this hand only gets called by Jx, 9x, two pair and better, so the recommended overbet is unjustified for a hand this weak.
Key idea
On the river a weak made hand like bottom pair is a showdown/bluff‑catcher, not an overbet for value.
Common mistake
Treating bottom pair as a value hand and overbetting it, when worse hands never call and better hands always do.