Spot 4Bet sizingAdvancedNovember 7, 2026

Top two pair on the river — check or bet?

SB 200 / BB 400On K♦ Q♥ 6♣ 3♠ 8♦ the Big Blind checks to you. You hold K♠ Q♠ — top two pair. Check, or bet which size?

Pick your answerSee the grade and why

The hand

A 3-max spin-and-go, 21bb stacks, 5bb each already in the pot. You are on the Button with K♠ Q♠. The board reads K♦ Q♥ 6♣ 3♠ 8♦ on the river, giving you top two pair, kings and queens. The pot is 10bb and the Big Blind checks to you. No flush or straight is possible here. The question is whether to bet, and if so how much to ask of the hands that might call. Check, bet 4bb, bet 7bb, bet 10bb, or move all-in for your last 16bb?

How to think about it

Answer first: the walkthrough opens as soon as you choose, with the numbers behind the right play.

Best answer: Bet 7bb

1
What each option earns
On average, against the hands that call or fold to each size:
- Check+8.73bb
- Bet 4bb+9.92bb
- Bet 7bb+10.31bb
- Bet 10bb+9.44bb
- Bet 16bb+9.41bb
The best option
Bet 7bb earns the most — about 0.39bb more than Bet 4bb.
The idea
A value bet is sized to the hands that call: the bigger the bet, the fewer of them stay in.

The full reasoning

Bet 7bb is right. With top two pair on this river the question is how much the callers will pay, so compare what each line is worth against the assumed range of KJ, KTs, K9s, QJs, QTs, Q9s, JTs, J9s, T9s, 66, 33, 88, A6s, A3s, A8s and some suited connectors that missed, with a recorded calling sub-range per size. Bet 7bb is worth about +10.31bb: the kings, the queens and the three sets call, plus a few weaker hands. Bet 4bb is worth about +9.92bb, close but behind; a few more pairs call, but every caller pays less. Bet 10bb drops to about +9.44bb and the 16bb all-in to about +9.41bb: only the kings, the best queens and the sets stay in, and the sets beat you. Checking is worth about +8.73bb: you win the pot as it stands but ask nothing of the kings and queens that would have paid. A close answer is within half a big blind of the best, so 4bb is fine; the bigger bets and the check are mistakes. The concept: a value bet is sized to the hands that call, and the bigger the bet, the fewer of them stay in.

Practice this kind in the app: level 29, 33, 34.