Friday, January 27, 2006

Continuation Bets in No-Limit Holdem

Picture the scene. You're in late position, 2 off the button, and you look at Ace-King in clubs. Woohoo! You raise the standard raise, 6 times the big blind and get two callers, one a prior limper, and the big blind.

The flop comes Queen-high, with no clubs. What next? You missed the flop. Great. The BB checks, and the action is to you. What now?

You fire out a continuation bet. You have a strong hand, one which still may be the best hand, and now, you have to defend it, along with the money you've already put into the pot. The continuation bet is something that is vital to success in no-limit holdem, as is the way to play against or defend against it.

Today, I was playing $50NL at Full Tilt and I had a real good one on my hands. A player two to my right who consistently called my pre-flop raises and folded to my continuation bets. He was a veritable ATM. I'd have AK on a Q-7-4 flop, fire out a 2/3 pot bet and his hand would hit the muck before you could blink. Another hand, I'd have QJ, on an ace-high flop, and I'd fire a 3/4-pot continuation bet and watch him fold. I stole about six small pots off him by doing this (which was of course, a by-product of my table image, and 18% VP$IP and 14% PFR at the table), and I could imagine him steaming at his keyboard as small pot (~$5) after small pot slid over to me. So, with about $13 left in front of him, he decided to take a stand. I raised to $2 on the button, as I was prone to do, and he called from MP, leaving us heads-up on the flop that brought K-6-2. I fired out my nice standard $3.50 bet into a $5 pot, and he immediately pushed all in. I insta-called and flipped over my KK, and he flipped J6o. He was drawing dead to running 6's, and he couldn't do anything about it. Why did this happen? Because he didn't understand the idea of a continuation bet, and what to do with it.

In most standard (not-too-loose, not-too-tight) games, there is an automatic tendency among many players to "check to the raisor," especially pre-flop. In fact, in many cardrooms, you'll catch many players, especially old-timers actually saying, "check to the raisor." When you're the raisor, this is like music to your ears. You're essentially getting a free crack at the pot, which especially if you're heads-up, will end up in your chipstack far more often than not.


Continuation Bet as Semi-Bluff



Pre-Flop: You get AJs on the button and you open-raise. Why? Because you have a strong hand, you wish to eliminate weaker hands, and you want to build a pot with players you may have dominated. Your standard raise (game and table-texture dependent) is fine here. The BB calls, as does an EP limper.

Flop: Q-4-6 rainbow. BB checks, EP checks, and with the action to you, you bet 3/4 pot. Why? You don't have a made hand, but the two limpers are showing weakness by checking to you. You have nothing to slow play, so the only appropriate action is to bet. You want to semi-bluff here that you caught a piece of the flop, and drive out anyone who caught, say, middle pair, and want to try their luck to catch two pair or trips. The size of your continuation bet should vary by table texture (see Phil Gordon's excellent Little Green Book for more on this) and it should be enough that most players won't have odds to draw to the next street, and enough still that a check-raise would have to be significant enough that you absolutely know you're beaten. Many recommend varying between 2/3 times the pot and 1 1/2 times the pot.

In this situation, you know that anyone who calls your bet is either a) drawing, b) sitting with a queen in their hand, or c) stupid. Anyone who raises your bet more than a min-raise (which, even though some advocate that min-raise=monster, I have NO respect for) is either trying to bluff you off YOUR pot, or has a significant holding themselves, whether a made hand or a big draw.

Therefore, this bet accomplishes many things. Frequently, you will win the pot immediately. Other times, you will have enough information to make a nice laydown, and other times, you will build a nice pot for you to win later.

Continuation Bet as Punctuation Mark


New hand. You look down at QQ on the button. You make a standard raise, two players call, and the flop comes A-Q-3 rainbow. Many players would slowplay this, but I'll give the argument against it. When a table knows you'll fire out a continuation bet, they're more likely to play along with mediocre (or just second best) holdings. Here is a perfect example. People love to limp-call with AQ, Ax suited, KQ, things like that, particularly at lower limits like $25 and $50 NL.

If it's checked to you, believe that they themselves (or at least one of them) are waiting for your continuation bet. Fire out a low-end bet (2/3 the size of the pot), and wait for the check-raise to come.

Being consistent with the contination bet (except of course when it's obvious you're beat or you sense weakness) will help you both in the current pot and in future pots down the road.

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