1.

7 – 88, pair of eights 3bet OOP – Standard Line, Polarization

Student: I thought I could bridge the standard line here and check on the turn because my hand is
not strong enough to bet when I know the turn is going to be overfolded.

Nick: Correct. The standard line in 3bet pots OOP as the aggressor is to barrel twice with strong top
pairs and over pairs. (Click here to review the standard line.) However, we know the low, non-
interactive turn is overfolded. In theory it is definitely not too thin to bet twice here, but
exploitatively it might be better to check and let villain stab when we know the turn is a hotspot,
especially when villain does not have a lot of 7-x in his range to begin with.

Villain makes a clear polarization error by checking instead of value betting on the river. In general,
the pool does not value bet thin enough.