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C-Betting in online No Limit Texas Holdem
Continuation betting (the C-bet) in Texas Holdem is when the pre flop raiser
continues aggression after the flop with a bet (with or without a made hand).
In many cases, both the pre flop raiser and caller will miss the flop entirely,
and if the caller is out of position, it becomes hard to call the aggressor’s bet.
The size of the C-bet bet, the number of callers, your position, the type of
opponents who called, and of course flop texture all have a large effect on
whether the raiser can C-bet profitably. C-betting also disguises your play by
making it difficult for your opponents to tell whether you actually hit the flop or
not and sets up profit from big hands later in the game. The last thing we want
is for a player to realize that we only bet the flop when we have a strong hand.
Your image at the table makes a difference too. Finally, a read on an
opponent or multiple opponents as to how they play can significantly help
maximize c-bet profits.
Odds and bet sizing
There is much debate and discussion on how to size a continuation bet for
No Limit Texas Holdem. Many believe that a c-bet should be the size of the
pot to portray strength. Others think that a half-pot c-bet risks less but still
captures enough pots to be profitable in the long term. A poker player could
also argue that sizing your bet the same every time whether you hit, miss,
have a made hand, a draw, etc is a great way to keep your opponents
guessing. Which is right? It depends. All of these arguments have merit and
as usual we can play a combination of all of the above and make those
adjustments based on the tendencies of our foes.
One thing to consider is long term odds of c-betting. If we bet the pot, and we
get our opponents to fold a little more than half the time we are making money
(and disguising our play). If we bet ½ the pot, our opponent only needs to fold
1/3 of the time for us to be profitable over the long term.
Number of opponents
If you whiffed the flop after raising pre flop and there are six players in the
hand, the chances are likely that one or even more than one player hit the flop
pretty good. C betting into a group of players is mostly a “spew” (a large
waste of money by a player that makes the same mistake continually and
severely limits win rate). Even betting a whiff into 2 or 3 opponents can be a
mistake depending on the flop texture and your table image. The optimum
number of opponents to c-bet into is one, as there is much less chance that
one player will have hit and there will be no odds for a drawing hand to
continue.
Position
Position in No Limit Texas Holdem Poker gives you an advantage on every
betting round. It helps you maximize when you hit a big hand and save a ton of
money when you don’t. A check from your opponent can mean very strong or
very weak, but with the proper sized bet, we can easily get away from our lack
of a hand if our opponent check-raises our c-bet. Bet let’s say the bad guy flat
calls and then checks the turn. We can check behind for a free card. Not only
is the free card a chance to catch up, but also a lost street of value is a
terrible situation for a player with a strong hand who is out of position. When
we c-bet out of position we have no information as to our opponents hand
strength and we will often have to reveal ours on the turn when we lead out
with a check. Can we really call a turn bet here with A high?
Type of Opponents
In No Limit Texas Holdem Poker, the best type of player to c-bet is the tight
and straightforward player. These players will fold most of the time when they
miss the flop – which is most of the time. If they call or raise your bet then you
typically know that you are behind in the hand and if you do not significantly
improve on the turn you can give up. Loose players however make poor
player to c-bet. Players that do not fold when they should are best played for
value – that is bet into them when you have a good hand. Trying to bluff these
players when they won’t fold is a very costly mistake in poker. Note that just
because a player is loose pre flop does not mean that they are loose post
flop. Many loose pre flop opponents want to take a “cheap look” at the flop
and often fold to any aggression when they miss.
Flop Texture
The type of card combinations on the flop are a big clue as to whether or not
your opponent will continue in the hand against a c-bet in No Limit Texas
Holdem (and Limit Texas Holdem Poker too). Consider the following chart:
– Flop texture and how they help your c-bet
• K or Q high, not suited, not connected is the best
• A high not suited, not connected 2nd best
• Paired or 3 of the same suit is ok
• Suited OR connected = just ok
• Suited and connected = poor
• Suited, connected, flop has cards helping hands like JTs or T9s are the
worst.
Think about an opponent who calls your pre flop raise with a medium sized
suited connector in hoping to out-flop you. Which flop would he not have a
draw to continue with? Which board hits nearly all of his range with huge draw
or at least a gut-shot straight draw?
• Kd, 7s, 2c
• 9h, Th, Qs
Table Image
Your image at the poker table is also very important at figuring out whether
your foes will fold to you on the flop. Just by luck of getting cards, if you
appear to be wild and crazy you may not get many folds. Also, if you have
been losing – even to bad beats – people will play back at you. This isn’t fair
but it’s typical player perception. I like to look at my session stats for actual
money lost or won to judge my table image. A maniac player who is cleaning
up might scare away the best hand too. Again it’s all about how the
“somewhat attentive” player perceives you.
Reads:
Having notes on players and how often they fold is important too. Most heads
up display programs come with a “folds to c-bet” statistic, allowing you to
configure your HUD to show that stat. Obviously, a player with a very high “fold
to c-bet” percentage after a large hand sample is a good player to bet into.
The opposite is true also of course. Knowing what a player is willing to call a
raise with pre flop in general is helpful as well.
In summary, you can see that there are very many factors in figuring out
whether c betting is profitable. For the most part if you are up against one
player who is not too loose and the flop is dry you can bet and not worry about
it. Many players come up with a simple plus or minus point system that factors
in the above conditions to get a net sum answer. I would suggest typically
opting FOR the c-bet unless there are a few strikes against it. Even if you get
called, it sets up further action against that player in future hands. Not getting
callers when you finally hit top set is the worst! I also recommend the book
“Killer Poker by the Numbers” for this type of math and much more
concerning the c-bet. Good luck on the poker tables.
McStackn
Continuation betting (the C-bet) in Texas Holdem is when the pre flop raiser
continues aggression after the flop with a bet (with or without a made hand).
In many cases, both the pre flop raiser and caller will miss the flop entirely,
and if the caller is out of position, it becomes hard to call the aggressor’s bet.
The size of the C-bet bet, the number of callers, your position, the type of
opponents who called, and of course flop texture all have a large effect on
whether the raiser can C-bet profitably. C-betting also disguises your play by
making it difficult for your opponents to tell whether you actually hit the flop or
not and sets up profit from big hands later in the game. The last thing we want
is for a player to realize that we only bet the flop when we have a strong hand.
Your image at the table makes a difference too. Finally, a read on an
opponent or multiple opponents as to how they play can significantly help
maximize c-bet profits.
Odds and bet sizing
There is much debate and discussion on how to size a continuation bet for
No Limit Texas Holdem. Many believe that a c-bet should be the size of the
pot to portray strength. Others think that a half-pot c-bet risks less but still
captures enough pots to be profitable in the long term. A poker player could
also argue that sizing your bet the same every time whether you hit, miss,
have a made hand, a draw, etc is a great way to keep your opponents
guessing. Which is right? It depends. All of these arguments have merit and
as usual we can play a combination of all of the above and make those
adjustments based on the tendencies of our foes.
One thing to consider is long term odds of c-betting. If we bet the pot, and we
get our opponents to fold a little more than half the time we are making money
(and disguising our play). If we bet ½ the pot, our opponent only needs to fold
1/3 of the time for us to be profitable over the long term.
Number of opponents
If you whiffed the flop after raising pre flop and there are six players in the
hand, the chances are likely that one or even more than one player hit the flop
pretty good. C betting into a group of players is mostly a “spew” (a large
waste of money by a player that makes the same mistake continually and
severely limits win rate). Even betting a whiff into 2 or 3 opponents can be a
mistake depending on the flop texture and your table image. The optimum
number of opponents to c-bet into is one, as there is much less chance that
one player will have hit and there will be no odds for a drawing hand to
continue.
Position
Position in No Limit Texas Holdem Poker gives you an advantage on every
betting round. It helps you maximize when you hit a big hand and save a ton of
money when you don’t. A check from your opponent can mean very strong or
very weak, but with the proper sized bet, we can easily get away from our lack
of a hand if our opponent check-raises our c-bet. Bet let’s say the bad guy flat
calls and then checks the turn. We can check behind for a free card. Not only
is the free card a chance to catch up, but also a lost street of value is a
terrible situation for a player with a strong hand who is out of position. When
we c-bet out of position we have no information as to our opponents hand
strength and we will often have to reveal ours on the turn when we lead out
with a check. Can we really call a turn bet here with A high?
Type of Opponents
In No Limit Texas Holdem Poker, the best type of player to c-bet is the tight
and straightforward player. These players will fold most of the time when they
miss the flop – which is most of the time. If they call or raise your bet then you
typically know that you are behind in the hand and if you do not significantly
improve on the turn you can give up. Loose players however make poor
player to c-bet. Players that do not fold when they should are best played for
value – that is bet into them when you have a good hand. Trying to bluff these
players when they won’t fold is a very costly mistake in poker. Note that just
because a player is loose pre flop does not mean that they are loose post
flop. Many loose pre flop opponents want to take a “cheap look” at the flop
and often fold to any aggression when they miss.
Flop Texture
The type of card combinations on the flop are a big clue as to whether or not
your opponent will continue in the hand against a c-bet in No Limit Texas
Holdem (and Limit Texas Holdem Poker too). Consider the following chart:
– Flop texture and how they help your c-bet
• K or Q high, not suited, not connected is the best
• A high not suited, not connected 2nd best
• Paired or 3 of the same suit is ok
• Suited OR connected = just ok
• Suited and connected = poor
• Suited, connected, flop has cards helping hands like JTs or T9s are the
worst.
Think about an opponent who calls your pre flop raise with a medium sized
suited connector in hoping to out-flop you. Which flop would he not have a
draw to continue with? Which board hits nearly all of his range with huge draw
or at least a gut-shot straight draw?
• Kd, 7s, 2c
• 9h, Th, Qs
Table Image
Your image at the poker table is also very important at figuring out whether
your foes will fold to you on the flop. Just by luck of getting cards, if you
appear to be wild and crazy you may not get many folds. Also, if you have
been losing – even to bad beats – people will play back at you. This isn’t fair
but it’s typical player perception. I like to look at my session stats for actual
money lost or won to judge my table image. A maniac player who is cleaning
up might scare away the best hand too. Again it’s all about how the
“somewhat attentive” player perceives you.
Reads:
Having notes on players and how often they fold is important too. Most heads
up display programs come with a “folds to c-bet” statistic, allowing you to
configure your HUD to show that stat. Obviously, a player with a very high “fold
to c-bet” percentage after a large hand sample is a good player to bet into.
The opposite is true also of course. Knowing what a player is willing to call a
raise with pre flop in general is helpful as well.
In summary, you can see that there are very many factors in figuring out
whether c betting is profitable. For the most part if you are up against one
player who is not too loose and the flop is dry you can bet and not worry about
it. Many players come up with a simple plus or minus point system that factors
in the above conditions to get a net sum answer. I would suggest typically
opting FOR the c-bet unless there are a few strikes against it. Even if you get
called, it sets up further action against that player in future hands. Not getting
callers when you finally hit top set is the worst! I also recommend the book
“Killer Poker by the Numbers” for this type of math and much more
concerning the c-bet. Good luck on the poker tables.
McStackn
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