There are a lot of different poker concepts and terms, but one action is the most important for every poker amateur and poker pro alike – a continuation bet. It’s also one of the first poker plays that each newcomer to the poker game learns.
Almost everyone knows that continuation bet is a powerful tool, but not many know why. Let’s examine the idea of continuation betting and why it is vital to every sound poker strategy.
At its principles, poker is all about placing bets
Although almost every good poker strategy is complex, the core idea of poker is very straightforward. Think about it: every time you put chips in the middle, you are essentially betting that your hand is better than your opponent’s. It’s pretty similar to any other bet you can make outside the poker world: you claim something, then you back it up with a certain amount of money, and it’s up to your opponent whether it’s a bet they are willing to take or not.
So, going back to poker, every time you enter the pot, you claim that your hand is worth a certain amount of money. That’s why raising is usually better than limping; by putting more money into the pot, you say your hand is better than your opponent’s.
Hence, if you raise preflop and both blinds call you, who, on average, should have the best hand? You. You put more money into the pot when you had the chance, other players also had such an opportunity, yet they only decided to match your previous bet.
We haven’t mentioned the importance of the position in poker, but you can read about it here: Why position in poker is so important?
A continuation bet is a signal that you still like your hand
It’s a simple concept, yet many inexperienced poker players miss it and c-bet on almost every flop in every pot they’ve opened, just because they were taught to do so. While this strategy may be surprisingly successful on lower stakes, you won’t be able to play poker on the highest level without understanding why you are choosing one action over another.
As we’ve established earlier, if you raised the pot and other players have just called you, most of the time, your hand should be the strongest one. That’s especially true if you opened from the earlier position when your range is composed of many pairs and high cards. Simultaneously, if your opponent is on the big blind, they should have a lot of weak holdings, like middle one-gappers or unsuited hands with one high or one medium card. In such a scenario, you also have the absolute best hands like aces, kings, and queens, while your opponent should lack them most of the time.
These two characteristics can be summarized into one statement:
Usually, the player opening the pot has a stronger hand than the player who just called the bet.
Now, let’s add another piece to this puzzle.
It’s way harder to hit the flop than you might think
Unless you are opening 5% or so of the best preflop hands (which is tempting for some players but is far from a solid poker strategy), you’ll miss the flop more often than not. To simplify this a bit, it means that only one-third of the time, you’ll hit a piece of a flop. That doesn’t sound too thrilling, does it? No, but the most important takeaway is that it works the same way for your opponent.
So, in every poker hand dealt with community cards, your opponent hits the flop roughly 1/3 of the time. Their range of hands was weaker to begin with, and this gets even worse for them on the flop. For example, when you and the other player hit the top pair, yours will likely be better, and it usually stays true for other hands.
This discrepancy between the ranges is the reason why most of the poker strategy tips tell you, rightfully so, to check the flop after calling the bet out of position preflop.
You can learn more about poker tools from this article: Best poker tools to help you out at the poker table.
The difference in the strength of the ranges is a cause of the success of continuation betting
If your range is the stronger one preflop and the situation only gets better on the flop, it’s quite natural to continue the aggression and bet again. While we advise against mindlessly betting on every flop after raising pre, this poker strategy can still be surprisingly successful, even in today’s online poker environment.
However, more experienced players developed counterstrategies over time and started raising continuation bets more often. Still, there are some situations and hands in which the defending player can’t do much, even if their opponent uses continuation bet too often.
In fact, there are scenarios in which you can c-bet almost always and ones in which you should tread very carefully.
Poker tips 101: when to c-bet often?
This topic is quite complex, and we won’t be able to discuss it in detail here, but we’d like to draw your attention to a few easily recognizable situations, whether you play cash games, tournaments, or Spins.
Find out which poker format suits you best: Which online poker game should you choose in 2024.
This is one of the most important poker tips for any aspiring poker player, so let’s look at a few kinds of boards you should and shouldn’t c-bet quite often as a preflop raiser vs. big blind.
High disconnected boards
If the flop contains one (or more) high cards and the two others are low and disconnected, like A27, K93, AK6, and so on, it’s most likely a good spot to c-bet. On such boards, your opponent is unlikely to have a decent hand, let alone a very good one.
On such boards, you have many top pairs with strong kickers and better ones, while your opponent will hardly ever hit a top pair. Also, most of their holdings will be third, second, or pocket pairs, which will have trouble getting to the showdown.
High paired boards
The same logic applies to boards with paired high cards, ie. AA2, QQT, KK4. These boards are also very hard to hit, and while your opponent might have more trips than you do, they will be a smaller percentage of their range; therefore, many of their holdings will have a hard time against continuation bets.
Mono boards
This kind of board is one of the hardest to navigate. While usually the big blind will have more flushes than you, they will also have way more hands without any card in the same color as the rest of the board. That being said, it’ll be very difficult to defend properly, even against a small c-bet. Even if your opponent has a winning hand on the flop, the board texture is likely to change, and an out-of-position player will have a hard time playing properly on later streets.
Poker tips: when not to c-bet too often?
While c-bet is a weapon every poker player has in their arsenal, it’s important to use it wisely. Let’s talk about boards where you should use continuation bets very infrequently.
If you are looking for more general tips about poker, you may find this article interesting: How to win at poker? 5 tips to improve your game quickly.
Middle connected board
This is probably the worst kind of board for the preflop raiser. On such boards, like 987, T86, or 654, your opponent can have a lot of strong holdings. Usually, the player on the big blind will connect with these boards very well. If you open on the early to middle positions, you’ll most likely whiff this board totally, while the big blind will have a lot of pairs, two pairs, sets, and even straights.
Therefore, whatever poker games you play, be very careful with continuation betting on such boards.
Middle/low paired boards
On the middle/low paired boards, like TT4, 772, and 322, you should also be very careful with c-betting. While your overall range still should have a lot more solid pairs and high cards, your opponents will have a lot more trips, and a capable player could take advantage of that and make your life quite miserable if you proceed with a c-bet every single time.
Continuation bets are a backbone of a modern poker game
Whatever your game of choice is, proper continuation betting is one of the most important poker skills. Exploring which strategy to apply on which board can be fascinating, yet not always an easy process. Fear not if you feel like your game is lacking in that department; we’re here to help.
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