DECISION POINT: In a six-handed $2/$5 cash game action folds to the Cutoff who raises to $12, you call from the Button with Q♠9♠ and both Blinds fold. The Cutoff bets $14 on the 6♣5♥6♠ flop and you call. Your opponent checks the 5♠ turn. Action is on you, what do you do here?

PRO ANSWER: We are playing a $2/$5 six-handed cash game. We’ve chipped up a little to over $600 however the effective stack at the table is $500 and it’s still early with no significant information about our opponents. We are dealt Qs9s on the Button and action folds to the Cutoff who raises to $12.

This raise size is just under 2.5x the big blinds so this range should be quite wide, especially from the Cutoff. You can make a reasonable case for both calling here as a part of a Button defense plan or 3-betting. This decision also depends on the type of opponents in the Blinds and if we have any information regarding their play.

The type of info we are looking to gather is if the Blinds were observed to squeeze wide in this situation, more likely to call if they were passive, and more likely to fold or call without a premium hand. In this instance we decide to call and both Blinds fold.

The flop is 6c5h6s and the Cutoff bets $14. We have two overs and a backdoor flush draw. Folding may be a first instinct for many in this spot, however If we are defending the Button preflop and giving up too often on the flop, that is a very large leak.

A big part of our profit in this situation comes from taking advantage of our position postflop. With two overs and a backdoor flush draw we have reasonable equity here. This flop is also better for our range than our opponent’s as we tend to have more 76s/65s/86s/A6s type hands than they do.

We also have a lot of float equity here. Calling on the flop will lead to many situations where our opponent checks on the turn and we will have the option of trying to win the pot by betting. With all of those factors in our favor we decide to call.

The turn is the 5s and our opponent checks. While this is certainly a line they might take with Ace high and over pairs to keep the pot under control, the Cutoff also has a lot of JTs/QTs/T9s type hands in their range that will just check and give up here. We did turn some additional equity in this spot, and when our opponent checks here they are often capping their range.

All of these factors combined make this a great spot to bet after floating on the flop. Given our opponent’s capped range, it’s even a great spot to make a sizable turn bet so that making a call with a hand like Ace high or 88 is very difficult for them.

Betting big ($50-$70) is the best play.