After building a pot with top pair on earlier streets, call the river bet as a bluff-catcher rather than jamming into a polarized range.
Floating the small c-bet in position is standard with top pair, good kicker, and backdoor flush potential. While raising is an aggressive option to charge gutshots and second pairs, calling keeps the cutoff's bluffing range wide on a dry board.
Raising the turn bet is an excellent value play against a cutoff range full of gutshots and second pairs. **Ranges:** The cutoff's small second barrel contains many weaker pairs like AhJc and gutshots like AhTs. Raising extracts immediate value before river runouts freeze the action. **Sizing:** Raising to roughly 3.5x their bet (around 85-90% pot) sets up an easy geometric stack-off while denying equity to the board's straight draws. --- > **Takeaway:** When opponent sizes down on dynamic turns, raise for value to target second pairs and charging draws.
Just call the river bet. The river card downgrades our hand to second pair and completes the ten-queen straight, turning our holding into a pure bluff-catcher. **Ranges:** Cutoff's river bet is heavily polarized between straights like QcTh, two pair such as AcJd, and missed gutshots like Ts9s. Shoving isolates us exclusively against the hands that beat us, while folding out every bluff we beat. **Math:** Getting 4:1 on a call, we need just 20% equity to continue profitably. Calling preserves that price against their missed draws, whereas shoving sacrifices nearly all of our showdown EV. --- > **Takeaway:** Do not turn a bluff-catcher into a raise on scary rivers; call when the price is right and let bluffs surrender.
Note: Shoving river overplays second pair into hands that beat us while folding out every bluff we beat; calling is significantly higher EV.