Continuation-betting is one of the most simple winning concepts in poker and yet one of the most misunderstood. A continuation bet is a bet made on the flop by a preflop raiser whether they have hit the flop or not. The continuation bet, or c-bet as it’s often called, builds on the strength of the preflop raise by saying the hand that you were confident enough to bet before the flop is still strong enough to bet now the flop is out. Or if you want to cut to the quick, if you were saying ‘I like my hand’ before the flop the c-bet says, ‘Yeah, I really like my hand – what you going to do about it?’
C-bet for the win
Continuation bets will win so many pots, particularly against weak players, because most hands will miss the flop and even hands that are ahead of a continuation-bettor’s will frequently fold to a show of continued aggression. Let’s say you raise from late position with Kh-Jc and are called by the big blind who holds pocket Sixes. The big blind calls looking to hit a set and misses on the 2c-8h-Ac flop and checks to you. You bet and the big blind looks at the board, sees two overcards and a flush draw and quickly passes, already looking to the next hand to hit the flop. There are so many chips in the pot already that betting again is a no-brainer in the majority of situations. As already mentioned a continuation bet doesn’t depend on whether you’ve caught the flop or not, so how you react to a check-raise is very dependent on your holding and your history with the other player. The same goes if your c-bet is called. If you had decided to bet with top set then you’ll quite happily bet or raise again in most circumstances, but if you have air or a marginal holding, such as 8c-9h on a 4d-9h-Js-5h board, you have a more difficult decision in front of you. But on the plus side you still hold the initiative and that alone will rake a lot of pots your way.