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In heads-up limit Hold'em, I raised A-5 on the button, bet the 9-6-2 flop and the K turn, and the big blind called both. On the 3 river they check. Bluff or check?
Heads-up, PokerToast's limit Hold'em solver checks with A-5 on a 9-6-2-K-3 board after the big blind checks the river 92% of the time.
The spot
- Game: heads-up limit Hold'em, River.
- You: A♥ 5♦ (your hole cards): A-5 offsuit: Ace high, no pair.
- Your opponent: called your bets on the flop and the turn from the big blind and checks the river; the pot is 10 small bets (1.5 in blinds, 4 after your raise and their call, 6 after the flop bet and call, 10 after the turn big bet and call) in the solver's grouping (it groups pots, so the exact size matters less than the line).
- Board: 9♠ 6♣ 2♦ K♥ 3♠.
- Pot before this street: 10 small bets.
- Pot size and the numbers: the solver groups pots by size, and its numbers here are averages over every pot bigger than 6 small bets at this point (often much bigger), so the "worth" values can be larger than this exact pot could pay. The ranking of the plays is what to take from them.
The solver's numbers
| Play | How often (strategy) | Worth from here on (EV estimate, small bets) |
|---|---|---|
| Check | 92.3% | +1.50 |
| Bet | 7.7% | +1.49 |
Measured on 2,943 play-outs of this situation. The highlighted row is the play that measured best.
Why, in plain words
Check and bet are worth about the same here (0.01 small bets apart, within the measuring noise of about 0.17), so neither is a real mistake; the solver's usual choice is to check (92%).
What popular strategy articles say
We found no published answer to this exact spot (AI search, checked 2026-10-08).
Among the sources AI search surfaced, the numbers on this page are the only direct answer to this spot.
Heads-up vs multiway
The numbers above are for heads-up play (two players). Most published advice is written for full-ring games with several players in the pot, so part of any difference can come from that.
How these numbers were made
From PokerToast's own heads-up limit Hold'em solver, trained 9,047,710 iterations, exported 2026-10-07 01:24:47, 63,797 situations (version H-9047710-20261007012447). It learned by self-play (Monte Carlo counterfactual regret minimization) for limit betting, at most four bets a street.
- How often is the solver's average strategy for this situation.
- Worth (EV) is an estimate measured after training by playing the situation out many times against the solver's own strategy: small bets won or lost from this decision on, compared with folding (0). It assumes an opponent who plays like the solver.
- Hand groups: the solver groups similar hands, so the numbers are for the group (here:
3|B|N1/rc|Li|k), not only these exact cards. Before the flop it knows all 169 starting-hand types and your position (button or big blind). After the flop it groups your hand by how it uses the board (for example an overpair, top pair and its kicker, or a draw), the board's texture (paired, two or three of a suit, connected), the pot and the betting so far on this street. - Looked up when this page was built (2026-10-22); a newly trained solver changes the page and its version number.
Practice it
Your equity with these cards Today's Hold'em Daily Spot Open PokerToast
Part of: Heads-up limit Hold'em after the flop: top pair, c-bets and bluffs
More Hold'em spots: Heads-up limit Hold'em: which hands does the button fold? · Heads-up limit Hold'em: big blind defense against a button raise · Heads-up limit Hold'em: top pair in the big blind on the flop. Bet or check-raise? · Heads-up limit Hold'em: continuation-bet A-5 on a 9-6-2 flop? · Heads-up limit Hold'em: pocket 2s in the big blind against a button raise · Heads-up limit Hold'em: K-J offsuit on the button facing a 3-bet. Cap, call or fold? · Heads-up limit Hold'em: pocket Aces on the button. Raise or limp?