Daily puzzles — 2026-08-16

Slot 1: find-the-nuts

The nuts on each street.

Flop board: 8c, 5d, 7h
Flop nuts: 6c, 9c or 6c, 9d or 6c, 9h or 6c, 9s or 6d, 9c or 6d, 9d or 6d, 9h or 6d, 9s or 6h, 9c or 6h, 9d or 6h, 9h or 6h, 9s or 6s, 9c or 6s, 9d or 6s, 9h or 6s, 9s
Flop why: A straight — no other two-card holding beats this board.
Turn board: 8c, 5d, 7h, As
Turn nuts: 6c, 9c or 6c, 9d or 6c, 9h or 6c, 9s or 6d, 9c or 6d, 9d or 6d, 9h or 6d, 9s or 6h, 9c or 6h, 9d or 6h, 9h or 6h, 9s or 6s, 9c or 6s, 9d or 6s, 9h or 6s, 9s
Turn why: A straight — no other two-card holding beats this board.
River board: 8c, 5d, 7h, As, Ks
River nuts: 6c, 9c or 6c, 9d or 6c, 9h or 6c, 9s or 6d, 9c or 6d, 9d or 6d, 9h or 6d, 9s or 6h, 9c or 6h, 9d or 6h, 9h or 6h, 9s or 6s, 9c or 6s, 9d or 6s, 9h or 6s, 9s
River why: A straight — no other two-card holding beats this board.

True equity: 82.5%.

Your hand: Tc, Js
Villain: 9h, Jh
Flop: Kd, 6s, 8s
Rule of thumb: Each out is worth about 4% equity on the flop — useful for estimating a draw's equity at a glance.

Correct action: Call.

Pot: 50 BB
Bet: 25 BB
To call: 25 BB
Required equity: call / (pot + bet + call) = 25 / (50 + 25 + 25) = 25/100 = 25.0%
Your hand: Qc, 5d
Villain: 8h, Kh
Flop: 7s, 5s, 9d
Verdict: 61.2% clears the 25.0% you need, so calling wins chips long-run.

Hand B wins.

Correct action: Fold.

Seat A shoves: 13,000 chips
Seat B stack: 9,000 chips
Dead money already in the pot: 1,800 chips
Win probability if called: 60.0%
Chip-EV of calling: 2880 chips
Chip-EV of folding: 0 chips
Verdict: $EV(call) -0.05 falls short of $EV(fold) 0.00 — a risk premium of $0.05. Chip-EV alone would say call — the ICM risk is what flips it to a fold.