With top pair on a very connected river after calling turn, we should check or use a small value/protection bet rather than shoving.
Flop comes T74 with two spades. We have top pair with a backdoor flush draw and decent equity versus BTN’s range. Multiway, BTN’s range is still fairly strong, so checking our entire range is the standard approach. We don’t want to lead into two players with a marginal top pair on a draw-heavy board.
After we check, BTN fires 8BB into 8.5BB and SB cold-calls. We’re now facing a bet and a call in a multiway pot, but we still have top pair with a backdoor flush draw and we’re getting about 3:1, needing only around 25% equity. Calling is the right play here—raising would be overplaying our hand and folding would give up too much equity.
Turn 3h is a brick for us—no flush, no straight, no improvement. BTN now bets 32BB into 32.5BB, and SB folds. With SPR ≈1.5, we’re effectively committed with top pair. Solver prefers checking turn, but once we do face a bet, calling is the standard response—folding would be too tight and raising would be overplaying our hand.
Turn 3h is a brick for us—no flush, no straight, no improvement. BTN now bets 32BB into 32.5BB, and SB folds. With SPR ≈1.5, we’re effectively committed with top pair. Solver prefers checking turn, but once we do face a bet, calling is the standard response—folding would be too tight and raising would be overplaying our hand.
River 9s completes the spade flush and gives us a combo draw (JhTs with a gutshot to J9 and a spade draw). Solver prefers checking this combo on the river, but if we do bet, it should be a small value/protection bet rather than jamming. Shoving 67BB into a pot of 96.5BB is too big and polarizes us against a range that’s already very strong after betting turn.
Note: River shove with a combo draw on a very connected board is too polar and too large; checking or using a small value/protection bet is higher EV.