{"id":2541570,"date":"2025-04-08T15:36:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T15:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/?p=2541570"},"modified":"2025-12-23T20:11:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T20:11:39","slug":"defending-bb-on-ace-high-boards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/defending-bb-on-ace-high-boards\/","title":{"rendered":"Defending BB on Ace-High Boards"},"content":{"rendered":"<a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/peakgto\" class=\"adv-link\" aria-label=\"PeakGTO: PokerCoaching&#039;s free poker solver for GTO study\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Peak-test-banner.jpg\" alt=\"PeakGTO: PokerCoaching&#039;s free poker solver for GTO study\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Peak-test-banner.jpg 815w, https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Peak-test-banner-746x103.jpg 746w, https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Peak-test-banner-768x106.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 815px) 100vw, 815px\" width=\"815\" height=\"113\"   \/><\/a>\n\n\n\n<p>Since you have to defend your big blind a lot to avoid being exploited, you will end up playing a wide range of hands postflop that will put you in many tough spots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To make things easier, we will cover both dry and connected boards, and by the end of this article, you will have a good understanding of how to play in these situations.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-faq uagb-faq__outer-wrap uagb-block-ece8e64b uagb-faq-icon-row uagb-faq-layout-accordion uagb-faq-expand-first-false uagb-faq-inactive-other-true uagb-faq__wrap uagb-buttons-layout-wrap uagb-faq-equal-height     \" data-faqtoggle=\"true\" role=\"tablist\"><div class=\"wp-block-uagb-faq-child uagb-faq-child__outer-wrap uagb-faq-item uagb-block-26ad2f32 \" role=\"tab\" tabindex=\"0\"><div class=\"uagb-faq-questions-button uagb-faq-questions\">\t\t\t<span class=\"uagb-icon uagb-faq-icon-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox= \"0 0 448 512\"><path d=\"M432 256c0 17.69-14.33 32.01-32 32.01H256v144c0 17.69-14.33 31.99-32 31.99s-32-14.3-32-31.99v-144H48c-17.67 0-32-14.32-32-32.01s14.33-31.99 32-31.99H192v-144c0-17.69 14.33-32.01 32-32.01s32 14.32 32 32.01v144h144C417.7 224 432 238.3 432 256z\"><\/path><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"uagb-icon-active uagb-faq-icon-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox= \"0 0 448 512\"><path d=\"M400 288h-352c-17.69 0-32-14.32-32-32.01s14.31-31.99 32-31.99h352c17.69 0 32 14.3 32 31.99S417.7 288 400 288z\"><\/path><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"uagb-question\"><strong>TLDR:<\/strong> See AI summary of this article.<\/span><\/div><div class=\"uagb-faq-content\"><p><strong>Dry Ace-High Boards (e.g., A\u26609\u26655\u2663)<\/strong> <strong>vs Small C-Bet (~1\/3 pot):<\/strong> Call ~51% of the time with top pairs, middle pairs, ace-highs. Check-raise ~11% with strong top pairs (e.g., A9), two-pairs, sets, and some backdoor draws.<br><strong>Dry Ace-High Boards (e.g., A\u26609\u26655\u2663)<\/strong> <strong>vs Large C-Bet (~2\/3 pot):<\/strong> Call ~43%, tightening up with fewer ace-highs. Check-raise ~5%, mostly with nutted hands and a few bluffs.<br><strong>Wet Ace-High Boards (e.g., A\u26659\u26668\u2666) vs Small C-Bet (~1\/3 pot):<\/strong> Call ~50%, including more draws like 9x, 8x, flush draws. Check-raise ~12% with strong top pairs, combo draws, and bluffs like backdoor flushes.<br><strong><strong>Wet Ace-High Boards (e.g., A\u26659\u26668\u2666) vs <\/strong>Large C-Bet (~2\/3 pot):<\/strong> Call ~38%, focusing on high-equity hands (e.g., top pairs, good draws). Check-raise ~9% with value hands and high-equity semi-bluffs.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Defending BB on Dry Ace-High Boards &#8211; As9h5c<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, we will use PeakGTO to analyze ace-high flop examples when you call from the BB vs BTN open and see a flop.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Key assumptions about the hand:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The hand is played 100 bb deep&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The button opens<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Small blind folds, and we call from the BB<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We check to the preflop aggressor and face a bet<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To start the discussion, let\u2019s look at the <a href=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/poker-hands\/\" title=\"\">poker hands<\/a> we defend preflop to have a full understanding of how it correlates with ace-high boards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"574\" src=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/bb-calling-range-versus-the-button-1024x574.jpg\" alt=\"bb calling range versus the button\" class=\"wp-image-2541571\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/bb-calling-range-versus-the-button-1024x574.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/bb-calling-range-versus-the-button-746x418.jpg 746w, https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/bb-calling-range-versus-the-button-373x210.jpg 373w, https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/bb-calling-range-versus-the-button-768x430.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/bb-calling-range-versus-the-button-1536x861.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/bb-calling-range-versus-the-button-2048x1147.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As you can see, we 3-bet our strongest pairs and top broadway <a href=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/poker-combinations\/\" title=\"Poker Combinations \u2013 How to Count Poker Combos the Right Way\">combinations<\/a> and end up calling with 25% of the hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To break this down further, let\u2019s take As9h5c as an example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First and foremost, you should check your entire range from the BB. When we check and face a bet from the button, we will need to different around 62%.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the most part, we will be just flatting with 51% of our total <a href=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/ranges-in-poker\/\" title=\"Ranges in Poker \u2013 Analyze Your Hands Like a Pro\">range<\/a>, but we will have to incorporate some check-raises, which will equate to 11% in this situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"562\" src=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/big-blind-vs-c-bet-ace-high-dry-board-1024x562.jpg\" alt=\"big-blind-vs-c-bet-ace-high-dry-board\" class=\"wp-image-2541574\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/big-blind-vs-c-bet-ace-high-dry-board-1024x562.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/big-blind-vs-c-bet-ace-high-dry-board-746x410.jpg 746w, https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/big-blind-vs-c-bet-ace-high-dry-board-768x422.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/big-blind-vs-c-bet-ace-high-dry-board.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Our calling range mostly concludes off hands with showdown equity, meaning we call with any pair. This includes even underpairs to the board, and we also mix in a few calls with our strongest hands, even though we will use them for check-raising for the most part.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for check-raising, our range includes a mix of top hands such as two pairs and sets, and we balance it out with guthosts, weakest pairs, and runner-runner draws. This creates a great balance and lets us pick quite a lot of pots without going to the showdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key takeaways<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You check your entire range from the BB<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You call all of the hands that are connected to the board<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You check raise your strongest holdings and weakest draws<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Defending BB on Connected Ace-High Boards &#8211; Ah9d8d<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>Our strategy on connected boards is going to be fairly similar to dry ones. The biggest difference is that we end up defending fewer hands since we most likely will be facing a large c-bet size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Key assumptions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The hand is played 100 bb deep&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The button opens<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Small blind folds and we call from the BB<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We check to the preflop aggressor and face a bet<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s take the example of Ah9d8d. As mentioned above, your exact strategy will greatly depend on the sizing your opponent ends up using, but since he should pick the bigger one most of the time according <a href=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/what-is-gto-poker\/\" title=\"\">GTO poker<\/a> approach, we will build a response to that.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"561\" src=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/big-blind-defense-wet-ace-high-boards.jpg\" alt=\"big-blind-defense-wet-ace-high-boards\" class=\"wp-image-2541577\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/big-blind-defense-wet-ace-high-boards.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/big-blind-defense-wet-ace-high-boards-746x409.jpg 746w, https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/big-blind-defense-wet-ace-high-boards-768x421.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When facing a bigger bet sizing of around two-thirds of the pot, you need to defend less than 50% of the hands. In this exact situation, you call 38% of the hands, raise with a bit less than 10%, and fold 53% of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly to a dry board, you will be check-raising your sets and two pairs combinations alongside some gutshots and open ender straight draws. On top of that, you will mix some flush draws into your raising, but with a small frequency so as not to weaken your overall range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since you are facing a bigger sizing and raising fairly aggressively, you will need to call a bit less often than on a dry board because of <a href=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/mdf-poker\/\" title=\"Minimum Defense Frequency \u2013 Learn How to Use MDF in Your Poker Games\">MDF<\/a>. You still call top pair and your second pair combinations, and also most of your flush draws. That said, now you can let go weakest third-pair hands and all of the underpairs to the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On connected flops, you will need to defend a bit less often when facing a bigger bet, so you can get away with folding more hands from your lower end of the range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key takeaways<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You check your entire range from the BB<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You defend around half of the range versus a bet<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You call all top and second pairs and most of your flush draws<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You can fold some of the weaker third-pair combinations and all under-pairs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You check raise sets, two pairs, some open-enders, and a few guthost combos<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/peakgto\" class=\"adv-link\" aria-label=\"PeakGTO: PokerCoaching&#039;s free poker solver for GTO study\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Peak-test-banner.jpg\" alt=\"PeakGTO: PokerCoaching&#039;s free poker solver for GTO study\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Peak-test-banner.jpg 815w, https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Peak-test-banner-746x103.jpg 746w, https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Peak-test-banner-768x106.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 815px) 100vw, 815px\" width=\"815\" height=\"113\"   \/><\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since you have to defend your big blind a lot to avoid being exploited, you will end up playing a wide range of hands postflop that will put you in many tough spots. To make [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":2541586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[883,44,16],"tags":[896],"class_list":["post-2541570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advanced-gto","category-cash-games","category-poker-strategy","tag-postflop"],"acf":{"peak_live_date":"20250408"},"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/defending-bb-on-ace-high-boards.jpg",1280,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/defending-bb-on-ace-high-boards-373x210.jpg",373,210,true],"medium":["https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/defending-bb-on-ace-high-boards-746x420.jpg",746,420,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/defending-bb-on-ace-high-boards-768x432.jpg",768,432,true],"large":["https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/defending-bb-on-ace-high-boards-1024x576.jpg",1024,576,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/defending-bb-on-ace-high-boards.jpg",1280,720,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/defending-bb-on-ace-high-boards.jpg",1280,720,false],"author_image":["https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/defending-bb-on-ace-high-boards-100x100.jpg",100,100,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Jonathan Little","author_link":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/author\/jonathan_little\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Since you have to defend your big blind a lot to avoid being exploited, you will end up playing a wide range of hands postflop that will put you in many tough spots. To make [&hellip;]","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2541570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2541570"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2541570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2544623,"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2541570\/revisions\/2544623"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2541586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2541570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2541570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2541570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}