Q♠J♠ SB vs BTN, river on Q♣ 9♦ 6♣ 2♠ A♦, 65 bb
The spot
- You: SB
- Opponent: BTN
- Your hand: Q♠J♠
- Board: Q♣ 9♦ 6♣ 2♠ A♦
- Effective stack: 65 bb
- Pot: 13 bb
Population tendencies shape exploit windows in this high-EV branch.
Choose the strongest exploit-aware baseline.
See the answer
Best play: Bet 40% pot
Why
River, board Q‑9‑6‑2‑A. As the SB out of position versus a capped BTN, hero acts first with a pair of queens (Q from Q-spade pairing the Q-club), a made hand with no draws left. Versus a range that has few slowplayed aces and many missed clubs and 9x/6x, leading the 40% size takes thin, merged value from worse pairs and missed draws while keeping the pot controlled on an ace-high runout.
Key idea
On a river that pairs no one, a made second pair can still lead small for thin value against a range full of busted draws and weak pairs.
Common mistake
Treating the ace river as a reason to give up; a small lead still gets called by worse pairs and missed clubs.