BTN vs BB Single Raised Pot Deep Dive: K♠ Q♦ 5♣ at 100bb Cash

King-high broadway flops are where the button's preflop advantage is at its loudest, and most players still get the sizing wrong. On K♠ Q♦ 5♣ in a single-raised pot, the button opened and the big blind called, which means one player holds almost all of the strongest hands and the other holds almost none of them. That single fact drives a flop strategy that looks nothing like the "bet big with your good hands" instinct. This is a full Solver+ breakdown of the spot: the c-bet, the defense, and the turn barrels that separate the players who understand range advantage from the players who just have a pair.

1The Board and Who It Favors

Three features define this flop. It is broadway-heavy (two of the five highest cards), it is rainbow (no flush draw), and it is disconnected below the top (the 5 barely interacts with anything). Put together, it is a static board: equities are largely set on the flop and will not swing much on later streets.

Now overlay the preflop story. The button opens a wide range that is thick with exactly the hands this board hits: AK, AQ, KQ, KJ, QJ, and every Kx and Qx broadway, plus the overpairs. The big blind, defending against an open, has three-bet most of its AK and KK preflop, so its calling range arrives here range-disadvantaged and, more importantly, capped. The button holds the top of the range and the big blind mostly does not. That asymmetry is the entire strategy.

2Flop: The Button's C-Bet

When you own the range and the nuts on a static board, the solver does not pick between betting your good hands and checking your bad ones. It bets the entire range for a small size, because every hand benefits: the value hands get called by worse, and the air denies equity cheaply while keeping the button's range uncapped. Here is the flop action split.

3Flop: How the Big Blind Defends

Facing the 25% c-bet, the big blind is getting an excellent price (calling 1.38bb to win a 6.9bb pot), so it continues wide. But defending is not just calling. A meaningful check-raise keeps the button honest and stops it from betting a pure range for free.

The check-raise runs around 13%, built from the value that wants to grow the pot (sets, two pair, strong Kx) and semi-bluffs with real backup. A hand like J♥ T♥ is a model check-raise: an open-ended straight draw to the nut end (any 9 or A completes it) plus a backdoor flush, which is exactly the kind of equity that can barrel again on later streets. Against the larger 80% c-bet, the math changes: the big blind folds far more (about 55%), calls 43%, and almost never raises, because the price to continue is no longer a discount.

4Turn: Where the Barrels Live

The button bet small and the big blind called. The pot is now 8.3bb. What happens next depends almost entirely on the turn card, and this is where the spot stops being automatic. Select a turn type below.

5The Line at a Glance

6River Principles

By the river the pot geometry is set by the turn size you chose. The static nature of K-Q-5 means the same logic carries through: on cards that kept the button ahead, value bets stay wide and thin, and the overbet threat that started on the turn continues, because the caller's range is capped and cannot punish it. On cards that improved the caller, the button checks back its medium hands and defends rather than barrels. The single most important river habit here is to keep sizing tied to the range picture, not to the strength of your specific hand. If your turn barrel was an overbet, your river is usually a commit-or-give-up decision, so plan the river before you fire the turn.

7Quick Reference