The ABCs of C-Betting

*Last edited by TLR on Thu, 10 Jul 2008, 9:49am; edited 1 time in total*

I want to initiate some discussion on c-betting, so I decided to post some of my thoughts on c-bet, hopefully this will inspire some discussion on the topic.

Definition of c-bet

The following definition is taken from the FTR lingo: C-Bet/cBet/Continuation bet - To make a follow-up bet on a flop after you have raised pre-flop. e.g. Hero raises 4xbb with AK and the bb calls. Flop comes 2 6 9 rainbow, bb checks and Hero bets even though he didn’t improve his hand because he raised preflop.

I will refine it a bit: c-betting is betting the flop after you have raised preflop and got called, the flop did not improve your hand, and if it helped your opponent you are probably behind. So if you have AK and the flop is 2 6 9 rainbow and you bet it is a c-bet, if you have QQ and the flop is 2 6 9 rainbow it is not a c-bet but a value bet, because you assume you have the best hand.

General Thoughts
c-betting is not an automatic move when you raise and get called, while you should c-bet pretty often you should consider a lot of factors when deciding to c-bet.

While our goal in c-betting is to take the pot on the flop c-bets do not stand in a vaccum, when you c-bet you want to have a general idea of what you want to do for the rest of the hand in case you get called.

c-bets need to look like a value bet, so you want to c-bet exactly the same way you would bet an overpair or TPTK.

Factors to consider when deciding whether or not to c-bet:
There are tons of factors to consider whether or not to c-bet, I want to discuss the ones I think are most important. Of course all the factors are connected to each other, and you cannot take only one of them as a decision factor, I guess what I am trying to write is stuff that I think about when c-betting

Your Hand

The key question you need to ask yourself regarding your hand is what are my chances of improving to the best hand if I get called. With AK on a 962 rainbow board you have 6 outs to improve, but if you raised with 97o and the flop is KT3 if you get called you probably have 0% chance to improve to the best hand on the turn.
The better your chances of improving the more inclined you should be to c-bet

Number of opponents & Position
Number of opponents and position are critical factors when deciding whether or not to c-bet, I have grouped them together because they are very related to each other.

One opponent
Against one opponent you want to bet very often, pretty much regardless of position; of course having a position is a big advantage, but vs one opponent betting out of position is still usually a good move

Two opponents
When there is more then one opponent in the pot you should be much more careful with your c-bet, there are two main reasons for it – the obvious one is that there is a better chance somebody got a piece of the flop; the second reason is that the pot is bigger then it is when there is one opponent, which means that the size of your c-bet has to be bigger, which means that if you fold later in the hand you have taken a much more substantial hit to your stack.

Out of position – Betting vs 2 opponents out of position is usually not a good move, you need a lot of other factors to be very favorable in order to do it (i.e. tight opponents, good flop texture etc…) to do it, I rarely bet vs 2 opponents out of position.

Middle position – This is a tricky one, and I would say this is probably the hardest situation to decide whether or not to c-bet, other factors are critical here, as well as your table image.

Late position – Betting vs two opponents from late position is often a good move, when you have some of the other factors working for you. However I tend not to do it if both of my opponents are the blinds – blinds usually call wider then any other position, and if the SB called BB has pot odds to call with tons of hands, this means that it is very hard to put villains on hands. I am also very careful when c-betting vs a good player who can pick up this is a c-bet and come over the top. For a good player who spots a c-bet there is a lot more value in doing that when the pot is three way then two way, because the pot is much bigger.

More then two opponents
Unless you are the last to act don’t c-bet – you are losing money.
When you are last to act there is some value in c-betting. Most people play very straight forward in a multiway pot unless they have a monster. So if it is checked around to you there is a decent chance the flop missed everyone. Surprisingly you can often c-bet a bit less (in relative value to the pot) to pick up the pot, very often ½ pot bet will give you the pot.

Preflop action
Preflop action can help you determine the range of your opponents hands, some points to consider:
Limp-call: if someone limped and then called your raise his most likely holdings are low-mid PP and mid-high SC. If they check-called your flop on a non-drawy board look out for sets
Callers: A lot of time, especially in low-mid buy ins callers have a hand they would raise with if they open the action and cannot get themselves to fold to a raise – this includes hands like AJ, AT, KQ, KJ and pocket pairs
Blinds: They tend to call looser, especially BB in a multiway pot

Stack sizes
When c-betting you must consider your stack size and your opponent stack sizes, you need to figure out whether or not c-betting will commit you or villain to the pot. If c-betting will commit villain to the pot and it is heads up you want to consider putting them all in.
Regarding your stack – if the total of the PFR and the c-bet is more then 40% of your stack you will usually be committed to the pot, so if your c-bet gets called by only one opponent be willing to push the turn on a vanilla card. If you are not willing to put your entire stack then don’t c-bet

Flop texture
Flop texture is a very important factor to consider, you usually want to c-bets flops that are less likely to hit your opponents

2 or more mid-high card: If the flop have 2 or more cards in the K-9 area it is a bad flop to c-bet since a lot of the hands people call raises with fall in those categories

Flops with an A: If you are in late position repping the A with a c-bet is usually good, however if you get called you want to slow down

Paired flops: Paired flops are also good to c-bet, especially if the odd card is not connected to the pair. However if you get called on a c-bet here opponent usually have something and he is probably not going anyhere

Draw boards: boards like 952 with two to a suite are not bad to c-bet, however if you have position get called and the turn did not complete the draw be willing to fire another barrel. If villain has a 9 he usually will not check –call because it is too dangerous to give a free card, so if he called he may have a draw, so if he missed you can probably take it down with a bet on the turn.

Size of the c-bet
The size of the c-bet should fall in line with your value bets, so it should be about the size of your bet when you have TPTK.
Standard c-betting size is 60-80% of the pot. In early rounds tend to go for c-bets which are a bit higher then later rounds, because people call more loosely early.

Great post, I will add it to the SNG Tactics Digest.

A couple of other points that I would add:

- Just a bit more on flop texture - you have to be careful about c-betting (say if you have A Diamond

K

) on boards that are either super drawy like T Heart

9

8

or say if you raised preflop with A Club

6

and the flop comes K Spade

J

4

. In general I tend to be careful about c-betting flops with 2 broadways on them.

- If you are in position, you need to think about whether to c-bet on a board where you have some outs but where there is a danger you will get C-R off your hand, eg. if you have A Diamond

K

on a flop like Q Diamond

J

2

.

- If you have a read that opp is a super bad calling station, I wouldn't even c-bet safe flops, you are on a hiding to nothing without being able to show down the best hand

Great posts! I've been trying to get a stronger grasp on C-betting lately.

c-bet was one of the biggest leaks in my game once so I know the importance of it.. great post..

stack sizes (especially yours) is one of the biggest deals in the art of c-betting IMO.. sometimes it even effects your pre-flop decision..Like pushing instead of raising,etc..

Good concise post.

Its good to think about this preflop as well. I.e. before raising preflop consider your stack size, position etc.. while assuming you will air flop.

Often people (myself included) don't think about this and get themselves in bad spots with awkward stack sizes, oop etc.

You should have a plan in place and can adjust once you see flop.

c-betting when you have draws
When you have strong draws the distinction between value betting and c-betting is a bit more obscure.
I would almost always bet draws that give me 12 outs or more to win the pot (such as a FD with 1 or 2 overcards), draws with 10 outs are also very good, but you have to take the board texture into consideration. For example if I am holding J9s and the flop is 872, one of my suite, I have 2 overcards and gutshut str8, as well as runner-runner flush option, I would almost always bet it.
However if I have AK and the flop is QT8 I will be less inclined to bet, because this flop fits nicely into a lot of hands I can be up against, so if it is checked to me I will probably check behind to get the turn card for free, if the turn is checked around I will probably bet it.

Reads
This is pretty obvious, c-bet more when opp is tight, c-bet less if opponent is aggressive and will come over the top easily.
c-betting against donk calling stations is a bit more problematic, as it depends on the type of donks. Type A is the one who will fold if he has nothing but will call if he has a piece of the flop and will call till showdown. Best line against those players is to bet a relatively small c-bet, as it will be enough to push them off the hand if they have nothing. Type B is the one who is call down with anything you may get some value from c-betting, but since distinguishing between the two is very hard I will follow the same line of small c-bet.

When your c-bet is called
When your c-bet is called by more then one opponent and you do not improve on the turn you want to slow down and c/f or c/c depending on bet size and reads.
If your c-bet is called by one opponent you need to play poker, he may be drawing, he may have a monster, he may have a middle pair, so you need to factor preflop action, reads, board texture etc..
As a general rule if someone calls you on a drawy board and the turn did not complete the draw firing a second barrel is good, if someone called you on a totally uncoordinated board he has something and will probably not fold, so proceed with caution.

When your c-bet is raised
You need either strong draws or a good read on villain that he can be raising with total air to pick up your c-bet to jusity calling or raising, usually you need to fold. If you are not willing to fold you are better off pushing in the first place.

Defending vs c-bets
If someone c-bets a lot you can often pick up the pot by coming over the top with ATC. Usually a minraise will either win the pot outright or will set you to pick it up on the turn

Excellent post all around.

One thing to say on cbetting not mentioned above is the fundamental reason why a cbet works. You come close to it in the flop texture section....

It's not a question of your hand vs opponent's range, it's a question of your range vs opponent's range. (See ISF theorem.) A cbet is profitable on an unimproved flop if and only if your range is ahead of your opponent's on the flop regardless of whether your hand is ahead of your opponent's range. You should never cbet when your opponent's range is ahead (or if your opponent is a station). Your post excellently explains many reasons how to identify each situation but I think the underlying principle should be explicitly stated.

One more thing. It's quite possible AK is still the best hand on a raggy flop, so a bet with ace high might still be a value bet.

Extremely helpful, as usual.

Only just seen this. Excellent post TLR.

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The ABCs of C-Betting

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