Q♠J♠ BB vs SB, river on J♦ 8♠ 5♣ 9♠ 2♦, 90 bb

Best play: Bet 40% pot

Why

It is the river and hero holds top pair with a good kicker (jacks, queen kicker) in position against a capped SB who has already shown weakness by checking. A small bet around 40% pot is pure thin value: it gets called by worse Jx, by 9x, by 8x, and by busted draws that turn into bluff‑catchers, harvesting value a check would simply give up. An overbet would be far too thin here, folding out all of those worse hands and only ever getting called by something that beats us, so the small sizing maximizes how often a worse hand pays off.

Key idea

On the river with top pair and a good kicker versus a capped range, take thin value with a small bet — do not overbet, and do not check it back.

Common mistake

Overbetting top pair good kicker, which only gets called by hands that beat you and folds out the worse Jx, 9x and 8x you actually wanted value from (or checking back and forfeiting that thin value entirely).