Playing AK and Continuation betting

I don't consider myself a beginner neccessarily, but I don't play at a hugely successful level either. Anyway I am playing pretty low stakes no limit holdem. I have run in to a problem of getting AK or AQ a lot lately and completely missing my flop. I would call it a fairly average no limit game, sometimes 3 or 4 players to see the flop. Some seem to be pretty solid players others will pretty much call anything. I am mostly having problems out of position(of course). My usual course of action is to raise 3 to 4 times the big bling preflop. If the flop comes with junk I will typically make a raise of half to 3/4 of the pot. I will get called by one player usually. My next course of action, would be my next question. If I miss the turn as well, am I very wrong for putting in more money after the turn. I feel I have missed my hand and I should check and fold. I figure I'm either beat or avoiding a trap by doing this. I would like your thoughts on the issue please.

How long have you been playing at the table? You should have some basic reads about the player your going heads up to the turn with. LAG, TAG, Maniac?

What is he likly to call your pf raise with? Did his AK/AQ miss and he has the same thinking as you? Or does he have a low pocket pair and can you push him off it?

^ Lol, I see other members replying like this to other posts with questions like yours so I figured I'd post since no one else is.

I usually always make a cbet with my AK and miss. But if I get called I usually don't like to put more money in on the turn. But if he checks on the river over to me I usually always try to push him out.

If you know someone's probably gonna call, then don't cbet when you miss the flop. There is no rule that you have to cbet, nor that you have to win if you have AK. But if you do decide to cbet, firing a second barrel or not really depends on the board and what range of hands you put your opponent on..

OOP vith 3-4 people seeing the flop I would not fire a continuation bet, someone probably has a piece of the flop.

Generally speaking, if 3-4BB raise get you 3 callers, then raise a bit more.

With 1-2 other opponents in the pot you can fire cbet pretty successfully.

If someone calls you have to try to evaluate why he calls, assuming you dont have any reads on them what you have to go for is the texture of the board.
On a coordinated board - 2 or more of the suit, or 2 or more consecutive mid-high cards calling a cbet is more often then not a drawing hand. In this case if the turn is a blank (does not complete the flush/str8 etc...) then you should probably bet strong on the turn vs one opponent.
On an uncoordinated board more often then not a call means I have a piece of the flop. In this case check the turn, call a bet nly if pot odds are favorable assuming you have 6 outs

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TLR

OOP vith 3-4 people seeing the flop I would not fire a continuation bet, someone probably has a piece of the flop.

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and certainly at my stakes ($25NL) if someone catches a piece of the flop they will call most of the time. I don't even consider c-betting against more than one or maybe two opponents unless I have good reads.