Poker Continuation Betting

Continuation betting, when done correctly, can be a very profitable play. Although there are a few things to consider before you pull that trigger. Just like everything in poker, continuation betting is player dependant. If you are heads-up against an opponent that hates folding, then you probably shouldn't bet without some sort of hand. On the other hand, if you are against an opponent who is very tight and folds a lot, then you should be betting a wide range of hands. If you are in a multi-way pot then you probably shouldn't continuation bet with air as it is far too likely that at least one of your opponents has some kind of hand that they will not fold.

Air - When a player has 'air', they have no more than a high card.

Probably the most important factor of whether to continuation bet or not is the flop texture. On dry flops you should be continuation betting with a higher frequency because there are fewer possible draws for your opponent to chase, so you will often only be called by one pair+. One wet flops you should tread with caution. It is much more likely that your opponent will have at least a drawing hand and we all know people hate folding flopped draws. Unless you have flopped some sort of hand, it is usually better to check and often give up to any bet.

Dry Flop - When the three flop cards are not connected in any way, creating few draws.

Wet Flop - When the three flop cards are heavily connected, creating a lot of possible draws.

So lets look at some examples of good and bad flops to continuation bet.

A good flop...

4-spades, 8-hearts, K-diamonds

If you consider the range of hands that will call you then you will probably get something like K-x,8-x, 44-AA, 5-6, 6-7, 5-7 with x being a random card. I'm sure you will agree that this is a pretty small range of hands. Therefore, a continuation bet should be very profitable on this type of flop.

A bad flop...

7-spades, 8-spades, 9-spades

Now this is one of the wettest flops you can get. Lets take a look at the type of hands that will call a continuation bet on this flop. 7-x, 8-x, 9-x, 66-AA, 10-x, any spade. This is a much bigger range of hands than in the first example so you should really think hard before betting this flop. It would probably be a good idea to give up unless you have connected in some way.

Cliffs

Consider your opponent before you do anything

Bet flops with air more often against tight players

Bet flops with air less often against loose players

Bet dry flops with a wider range of hands

Bet wet flops with a very tight range of hands

Don't be afraid to give up the hand and check/fold - You don't need to try and win every hand

Richard Couch

Poker Strategy Bible

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