Continuation Betting: When To C-Bet

Why The Preflop Raiser Bets

The Player Who Raised Before The Flop Usually Holds The Stronger Range, Because They Raised While The Caller Only Called. On Many Flops That Advantage Is Large, Especially On High Card Boards Where The Raiser Has More Big Pairs And Strong Aces. A Continuation Bet Uses That Advantage: It Wins The Pot Immediately When The Caller Has Missed, And It Builds The Pot When The Raiser Has A Strong Hand.

The Price Of A Bluff Is Low When The Bet Is Small. The Table Shows How Often A Pure Bluff At Each Size Must Win The Pot Straight Away To Break Even. Small Bets Need Fewer Folds, Which Is Why A Small C-Bet With A Large Part Of The Range Is A Common Strategy On Dry Boards.

Which Boards To Bet

A Common Guideline Is To Bet Small And Often On Dry, High Card Boards Such As Ace High Or King High Flops With No Draws, Where The Raiser's Range Dominates And The Caller Has Few Strong Hands. On These Flops Even Hands With Little Showdown Value Can Bet, Because The Caller Will Fold Much Of Their Range.

On Wet, Connected Boards Such As 9 8 7 With Two Of A Suit, The Caller Has Many More Strong Hands And Draws, And The Raiser's Advantage Shrinks Or Disappears. Here A Common Approach Is To Bet Less Often And Larger, Concentrating On Strong Hands And Good Draws, And To Check Many Hands That Would Have Bet On A Dry Board.

Position Matters Too. A Raiser In Position Can Check Behind And See A Free Card, So It Can Afford To Check More Marginal Hands. A Raiser Out Of Position Who Checks Gives The Caller The Chance To Bet, So It Tends To Bet Or Check With A Clear Plan For Facing A Bet.

Common Mistakes

The First Mistake Is Betting Every Flop Out Of Habit. Against Opponents Who Have Learned To Call Or Raise Small C-Bets, Betting Every Flop Loses Money On The Boards Where Your Range Is Weakest. Build A Reason For Each Bet: Value, Protection, Or A Bluff With A Realistic Chance Of Folding Out Better Hands Or Improving.

The Second Is Giving Up Too Easily After A Called C-Bet. The Turn Is Where Many Pots Are Won, And A Range That Bets The Flop Should Have A Plan For Which Turn Cards To Keep Betting And Which To Check. The Third Is Using A Different Size For Strong Hands Than For Bluffs, Which Gives Observant Opponents An Easy Read.

Practise It On Smarter.Poker

The Answer Above Is Complete. When You Want To Drill It, These Are The Matching Training Tools.

• Play C-Bet Academy The Training Game For This Lesson.
• Open Jarvis Training Insights Jarvis Explains Your Training Decisions In Words.