Wednesday, March 19, 2008
THE CONTINUATION BET misc thinking
I’d like to start out by explaining exactly what continuation (or C Betting) betting is. C Betting describes a bet on the flop that follows your preflop raise. There are different opinions when it comes to C betting, but I’d like to share mine.
First of all, when exactly should you C bet? When I take the lead in the action by raising preflop I make a continuation bet about 80% of the time. It is my opinion that you should C bet most flops. What I want to discuss is when it often makes sense NOT to C bet. First of all there are players that rarely ever fold. If I come across a player such as this, I usually just give up on C betting and wait to connect with a flop before I C bet. Another example is in a case where you flop a medium strength hand against an aggressive opponent. Let’s say for example that you raise AcTd from the button and get called by the aggressive big blind. The flop comes down JhTh5c. Your hand is going to be good here on the flop a very high percentage of the time when you factor in the big blinds range. But since he is aggressive and your hand is certainly not worth felting with at this point, it makes sense to look to play a smaller pot and to increase your chances of seeing a showdown. So I advocate checking behind on a flop like this with the intention of calling any turn bet. If he does fire the turn AND the river and you don’t improve you will have a decision to make, but you will usually be able to safely fold against most opponents. If you C bet the flop here, you may get check raised and be in a dicey spot by a huge range of hands, the majority of which you beat. He could check raise any straight draw or any flush draw. He could also check raise as a bluff. If he does check raise you are going to be either throwing the best hand away too often, or getting involved in a large pot where you have no idea what you are up against. In this example, checking behind on the flop has the added benefit of sometimes inducing a bluff on the turn.
Another time where I often avoid C betting is when you are out of position. For example let’s say I raise from first position with AQ and the button calls. The flop comes down 789 with a flush draw. This type of flop crushes my opponent’s calling range from the button. The button will most likely be calling with a speculative hand like a suited connector or a small to medium pocket pair. This flop just smothers his range and I just can not expect him to fold often enough to make C betting profitable. Better players who may float you with a hand like QJ suited will often float you on the flop here as well just because they know that if the flush or straight comes in on the turn or river they can bluff you off of your hand. Those types of opponents will almost never fold to your flop C bet on this board. So check/folding is your best option here.
There is one more time where I feel most players feel compelled to 3 bet where I think check/folding is best. Let’s say the somewhat predictable, tight and aggressive button opens and you have 66 in the big blind. You reraise. The button calls and the flop comes down JT7 with a flush draw. I think it is perfectly acceptable to check/fold this flop. This flop just hits way too much of the button’s hand range. You will not get a fold often enough to justify C betting here. Your hand has only 2 outs when called and chances are that on a flop like this he will either be folding or shoving so you will have zero outs as you will almost never get called. If he has 77-AA he’s going nowhere. KQ is shoving. AK and AQ may get frisky and shove but those are the only two hands that possibly fold to your C bet. I know many good players who will C bet 100% of the time when they 3 bet preflop. However I am certain that this is a leak. I also think that C betting every time after you 3 bet preflop is a leak as well. You will be giving your opponents too great of implied odds when they know that you will C bet the flop every time and will likely call a shove light due to the fast paced action in the hand. Additionally, there is a big difference between C betting in a 3 bet pot (the bet is a much larger percentage of your stack), and c betting in only a raised pot.
C betting is a very important aspect of No Limit hold em. C bet too little and you people will know that you must have a hand when you C bet. C bet too much and you will become exploitable. In addition you will often be playing large pots with marginal hands. As is usually the case in No Limit hold em, it is best to find a good balance and always keep your opponents on their toes.
First of all, when exactly should you C bet? When I take the lead in the action by raising preflop I make a continuation bet about 80% of the time. It is my opinion that you should C bet most flops. What I want to discuss is when it often makes sense NOT to C bet. First of all there are players that rarely ever fold. If I come across a player such as this, I usually just give up on C betting and wait to connect with a flop before I C bet. Another example is in a case where you flop a medium strength hand against an aggressive opponent. Let’s say for example that you raise AcTd from the button and get called by the aggressive big blind. The flop comes down JhTh5c. Your hand is going to be good here on the flop a very high percentage of the time when you factor in the big blinds range. But since he is aggressive and your hand is certainly not worth felting with at this point, it makes sense to look to play a smaller pot and to increase your chances of seeing a showdown. So I advocate checking behind on a flop like this with the intention of calling any turn bet. If he does fire the turn AND the river and you don’t improve you will have a decision to make, but you will usually be able to safely fold against most opponents. If you C bet the flop here, you may get check raised and be in a dicey spot by a huge range of hands, the majority of which you beat. He could check raise any straight draw or any flush draw. He could also check raise as a bluff. If he does check raise you are going to be either throwing the best hand away too often, or getting involved in a large pot where you have no idea what you are up against. In this example, checking behind on the flop has the added benefit of sometimes inducing a bluff on the turn.
Another time where I often avoid C betting is when you are out of position. For example let’s say I raise from first position with AQ and the button calls. The flop comes down 789 with a flush draw. This type of flop crushes my opponent’s calling range from the button. The button will most likely be calling with a speculative hand like a suited connector or a small to medium pocket pair. This flop just smothers his range and I just can not expect him to fold often enough to make C betting profitable. Better players who may float you with a hand like QJ suited will often float you on the flop here as well just because they know that if the flush or straight comes in on the turn or river they can bluff you off of your hand. Those types of opponents will almost never fold to your flop C bet on this board. So check/folding is your best option here.
There is one more time where I feel most players feel compelled to 3 bet where I think check/folding is best. Let’s say the somewhat predictable, tight and aggressive button opens and you have 66 in the big blind. You reraise. The button calls and the flop comes down JT7 with a flush draw. I think it is perfectly acceptable to check/fold this flop. This flop just hits way too much of the button’s hand range. You will not get a fold often enough to justify C betting here. Your hand has only 2 outs when called and chances are that on a flop like this he will either be folding or shoving so you will have zero outs as you will almost never get called. If he has 77-AA he’s going nowhere. KQ is shoving. AK and AQ may get frisky and shove but those are the only two hands that possibly fold to your C bet. I know many good players who will C bet 100% of the time when they 3 bet preflop. However I am certain that this is a leak. I also think that C betting every time after you 3 bet preflop is a leak as well. You will be giving your opponents too great of implied odds when they know that you will C bet the flop every time and will likely call a shove light due to the fast paced action in the hand. Additionally, there is a big difference between C betting in a 3 bet pot (the bet is a much larger percentage of your stack), and c betting in only a raised pot.
C betting is a very important aspect of No Limit hold em. C bet too little and you people will know that you must have a hand when you C bet. C bet too much and you will become exploitable. In addition you will often be playing large pots with marginal hands. As is usually the case in No Limit hold em, it is best to find a good balance and always keep your opponents on their toes.
# posted by bonycamel @ 11:49 PM 
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