Cash Game Continuation betting

spectre

I find that I sometimes have difficulty deciding when to/not to make a continuation bet.
What are the main factors one should consider before making this bet?

Against one player, what % of the time should we continue betting after raising preflop?
Are there any general rules that should be used when up against, say 1,2,3+ players?

Is there an optimal bet size? How does it vary depending on table conditions, for example, does your position decide how much to bet considering I have X players to act behind me?

I would be interested to hear your views on the subject.

Lafortezza

It depends on a huge amount of things.
What hand do you have, what's the flop, what happened preflop, who has position, what are the stacks, etc etc.
Maybe if you post some hands that involve C-bets we can help you a bit more!

Hectorjelly

there was some good threads on this in the past

luckylucky

It varies so much depending on all the factors you mentioned.


In general against one or two opponents I would say do continuation bets the majority of the time - 75% or more, bet anything from about 50-75% of pot, make sure you are betting the same type of amount too when you hit a hand.

However it is a very situation dependent question you have posed, if you have a bunch of fish at the table, then you are going to be checking more if you don't like the flop and value betting not just on flop, but turn and river a lot more. If they are the kind of fish who will call big bets with 2nd pair or top pair crap kicker then if I have better than this I might bet pot or even overbet pot if I i think they will bite - always surprises me how many do , otherwise I'll bet more conservatively back around that 50-75% range.

If you have tricky players, who like to check raise the pre-flop raiser you are also going to be looking to check a lot more and even doing some of your own check raising more.

Also another factor is how often have you being making continuation bets at the table, if you have been doing them very frequently and you don't like your hand it might be time to just check it this time as your bets start to look less believable, also if you haven't made one in a while it will look more believable.

Against 3 players stands to reason your continuation betting percentage is going to drop quite a bit... as for an optimum amount against 3. I'm not sure I would guess around about 45% - 55%. I.e. Still betting your genuine hands but trying to steal the pot less often.

Against more than 3, I would be very uninclined to continue bet without a hand.

Position of course is always nice....If it has been checked around to you then if the checks are genuine you can feel freer in making your continuation bet especially if there are none or just 1 player behind you, however it's a BIG IF... just be aware of the possibility of getting check-raised but at least you can get away from your hand in that case if you wish.

As for position affecting how much to bet...interesting question I don't think I varyhow much i actually bet but normally you can bet more often in late position. Anyway be intersting to hear if anybody varies how much they bet according to position and why they choose to do this.

Anyway I don't know if this helps... table conditions will majorly alter any recommended strategy anyone could give you here anyways, adapt or die is the order of the day!

Lafortezza

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=304821&referrerid=59211&highlight=continuation+bet
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054940408&referrerid=59211&highlight=continuation+bet