Cbet Poker
This is the fourth episode in my Maximizing Your HUD series: Percentage Form and Color Coding for the Win. In this episode, I teach you about percentage form and how to color code your HUD stats. This helps for quick and easy reference and to find frequency exploits in a player’s game.
Listen to episode #60: Percentage Form and Color Coding for the Win
Cbet, or continuation bet, tells us how often the player bets at the flop given that he made the last raise pre-flop. So a cbet of 20% means he bets the flop as the pfr only 2 out of every 10 times. A Cbet of 70% means he bets the flop 7 out of 10 times.
What do these numbers really mean? (4:00)
A continuation bet is when a player raises preflop and bets the flop. Continuation betting is a complex and nuanced concept. This guide is an introduction to the most important factors determining whether or not to continuation bet the flop. You can also continuation bet the turn and river. A continuation bet in poker (CBet) is when you raise before the flop and then continue the aggression with another bet on the flop. This is a highly effective 1-2 punch in poker because it makes a lot of people fold.
So far in this series I’ve discussed HUD usage for online poker. I gave you the essential elements that every HUD needs, as well as additional stats that you can use to exploit your opponents. I also talked about the popups and why they’re so useful, and I gave you some ways you can practice using your HUD.
But we haven’t really discussed how to understand and think about the numbers in your HUD. What does it mean when “Robbing Robbie” raises from the BTN 75% of the time, what’s it mean when “Fit-or-Fold-Francis” cbets only 20%, and how strong is “Debbie-Double-barrels” range of hands when she’s cbetting the flop and turn 70% of the time?
Percentage Form (4:45)
The first step to understanding the stats we see on the HUD is understanding Percentage Form. This is a shorthand way to describe a range of hands. Instead of saying, “He 3bets Jacks or better and AK” you can just say, “He 3bets 3%” and someone versed in percentage form will understand that.
Get Flopzilla Pro to help you learn ranges in percentage form.
Enter in a range of hands and it’ll tell you the % of hands that comprises. There’s a huge difference between a 10% range and a 50% range of hands, and understanding this is very useful for hand reading.
HUD’s give us the % of how often somebody does something, which helps us be more technical players rather than feel players. Knowing how often they perform certain actions, which tells us the likely range of hands they’re doing it with, helps us to make plans and develop plays to combat them.
Pre-flop Raise
PFR is the % of the time that a player put in any raise pre-flop. This stat tells us how aggressive a player is.
If a nitty player has a tiny PFR of 5%, it means he only raises 5% of the time, or 1 in 20 chances. That’s only 77+, AK and AQs. He’s not even raising AQo, AJ, KQ, or 22-66.
Contrast this with an opponent who raises 30%, which is 6x more often than the nitty player opens, so it’s 6 out of every 20 chances. In the picture below, we see that 30% is any pp, A2s+, A7o+, every Broadway, K2s+, Q8s+, J8s+, 75s+ and 54s+.
That’s percentage form in action: looking at a stat and being able to understand what range of hands it correlates to.
3bet
This stat tells us how often the player decided to 3bet pre-flop. It’s another stat that looks at a players aggression and the % we see here is very telling.
You’ll often encounter people who only 3bet 2-3% of the time, which is JJ+ and AK. That’s it, just value hands.
Contrast this with somebody who 3bets 6% which is 99+ AQ and KQ. Quite a bit looser than the 3% 3bettor. And at 12% we’re looking at 55+, AT+ and KJ+. Now that’s getting aggressive with lots of hands that aren’t really doing so for value.
Cbet
Stat percentages tell you how often a player does something, but doesn’t always correlate to a range of hands. Cbet, or continuation bet, tells us how often the player bets at the flop given that he made the last raise pre-flop.
So a cbet of 20% means he bets the flop as the pfr only 2 out of every 10 times. A Cbet of 70% means he bets the flop 7 out of 10 times. That’s a huge difference, and one is obviously more aggressive than the other. But what do these two percentages really tell us?
We know that most ranges only “hit” the flop about 33% of the time. By hitting the flop I mean flopping TP+ or an OESD+. We know this by using a program like Flopzilla Pro that shows us how often a range of hands will hit flops. Here’s a screenshot of Flopzilla showing how a 25% raising range hits an average flop 34.2% of the time:
If an opponent has a cbet higher than 33%, you know he bets when he doesn’t hit the flop well, and the higher the % the more often he’s bluffing. If the cbet is below 33%, then you know he’s fit-or-fold and only fires when he hits the flop really well.
Color Coding for the Win (12:05)
Statistical Ranges
Color coding stat percentages helps to quickly spot frequency issues in your opponent’s game.
For PFR, I use a red/yellow/green/orange color scheme for my stat ranges. Red designates nitty stats, yellow is for reg stats, green for fishy and orange is for beyond fishy like LAG’s and donks.
So my own color coding ranges for PFR are:
- 0-8% and color coded red, which denotes a nitty player who raises infrequently
- 8-18% and color coded yellow, to denote a reg player who is raising somewhere in the range that’s considered to be optimal
- 18-24% and color coded green, which denotes a player getting too loose and aggressive with the hands they choose to raise
- 24-100% and color coded orange to denote a LAG or very donkish player
Another way that color-coding helps to spot frequency issues is when two different stats have opposite colors. For example, if their flop cbet is green (which is high and fishy or aggressive) and their turn cbet is low and red (which is nitty), then you know the opponent is turn honest and only bets here with the goods. This is like an opponent with a cbet of 70% on the flop then only 30% on the turn. Target these guys and take it away from them when they check the turn.
There isn’t a right or wrong way to color code your ranges, and even the ranges you select aren’t right or wrong. It’s just your opinion and whatever helps you exploit your opponents.
Ultimately, what I recommend you doing is writing down each stat in your HUD, and on a scale of 1-100, give thought into the ranges that comprise a nit’s, a reg’s, a fish’s and a LAG’s ranges.
My color coding ranges for:
3bet
- 0-6% red
- 6-9% yellow
- 9-16% green
- 16-100% orange
Cbet
- 0-50% red
- 50-66% yellow
- 66-100% green
Backgrounds and Font Sizes
Another part of color coding to make stats more user-friendly and quick to identify is background colors and font sizes. I increase the font sizing of the most important stats in my HUD, namely stack size in BB’s, VPIP and PFR.
The other thing I do is color code the backgrounds of stats that work well together. If you look at the screen shot of the 6max SNG & MTT SMART HUD below, you’ll see the following:
- Steal related stats all have a black background
- RFI, Fold to 3bet and 4bet are all teal
- Calling 2bet and 3bet stats are dark grey
- Cbet flop and turn stats are green
- And Fold to cbet flop and turn stats are on an olive background
Ultimately, it’s up to you to make your HUD as user-friendly as possible, and the goal should always be to make it so your HUD helps you exploit your opponents. That’s why you’re using the HUD after all.
Podcast Challenge (16:10)
Here’s my challenge to you for this episode: Create some of your own color coding ranges for the most important stats in your HUD. I recommend doing this for the stats mentioned today, as well as Attempt to Steal, Fold to Cbet, # of Hands Played and VPIP. Take the time to create these on your own, giving careful thought to what the percentages mean. Use Flopzilla Pro to aid you in this process. This practice of thinking about each individual stat and what the possible percentages mean will be great for your ongoing poker development.
Other Episodes in the Maximizing Your HUD Series
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- Counting Outs and Making Profitable Calls - February 4, 2021
- Don’t Respect the Player, But Always Respect the Math! - January 28, 2021
- Curiosity Kills Your Winnings - January 21, 2021
Cbetting Articles: The Continuation Bet : More Cbetting Tips : When To CBet (Examples) : Double Barrelling
The 'continuation bet' (or cbet) is becoming an increasingly popular move at the no limit Holdem tables. The popularity of the move stems from its simplicity and effectiveness, which means that it is easy to learn and be used appropriately on a basic level by players new to the game.
It is hard to play any session at any level without seeing a continuation bet being utilized, and you are putting yourself at a great disadvantage if you are not aware of it.
What is a continuation bet?
A continuation bet is simply a bet that is made on the flop if you were the pre-flop raiser, even if you did not improve your hand on the flop.
So if you raised pre-flop with A K and the flop came 4 9 Q, you can give yourself a chance of winning the pot by making a bet, despite the fact you have not made a pair or better.
This play is often successful because of the fact that 2 times out of 3 your opponent will not make a pair on the flop.
This means that if your opponent folded their hand each time you made a continuation bet and they did not connect with the flop, you will be winning more pots on the flop than if you simply checked. This is the most basic principle behind the play, but there are numerous other factors that influence its' success.
How to make a good continuation bet.
- A good continuation bet is 2/3 to 3/4 the size of the pot.
- Take in to consideration reads on your opponents.
Continuation bet sizing.
A good size of a continuation bet should be around 2/3 to 3/4 the size of the pot. So if the pot were $10, a $7 bet would be an appropriate amount for a respectable continuation bet. If the bet is too low, it invites opponents to call because they have good pot odds if they are on a draw or if they have a half decent hand.
A good continuation bet is between 2/3 to 3/4 of the size of the pot.
When we make this play we want to make it appear as if we have a very strong hand like top pair or better scaring our opponents out of the pot, and betting between 2/3 to 3/4 the size of the pot does this very effectively. However, if we over bet the pot (for example $14 into a $10 pot), we are investing too much money into the hand and risking more than we need to when a smaller $8 bet will have the same effect.
Take in to consideration reads on your opponents.
The strength of your opponent's ability should influence your decision on whether or not a continuation bet should be made. At the lowest levels you will find that opponents are more willing to call bets with any sort of hand.
Avoid making continuation bets against calling stations.
The reduced likelihood of opponents folding at the lower levels means that it may not be profitable to make continuation bets because we are unable to scare off the mediocre hands that they will hold. In addition, the effectiveness of a continuation bet decreases against more experienced opponents because the very good players are able to sense these type of plays and may raise or call knowing that you may be betting with the worst hand.
This means that we should reduce the number of continuation bets we make, as they will be most successful against the average players who are able to fold decent hands.
Using the flop to determine whether or not to continuation bet.
The success of a continuation bet can be improved depending on what cards the flop brings.
Continuation bet example.
You hold A Q and the flop comes 2 K 6, it is difficult for your opponent to call a continuation bet unless they are holding at least a pair of kings. So even though your opponent had a 2 in 3 chance of making a pair on the flop, if they make a pair with the six or the two, they are still likely to fold because your continuation bet makes it look a though you have a pair higher than a six or better.
$1/$2 No Limit Hold'em cash game - 6 Players
SB: $200
BB: $200
UTG: $200
MP: $200
Hero (CO): $200
BTN: $200
Pre Flop: ($3) Hero is CO with A Q
2 folds, Hero raises to $8, 2 folds, BB calls $8
Flop: ($17) 2 K 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $13, BB folds
However, if you hold A Q and the flop comes J K 8, a continuation bet is more likely to get called because of the flush and straight draw possibilities. As you can see, the play is more likely to work when your opponent can only call if they have a strong made hand with no draw.
$1/$2 No Limit Hold'em cash game - 6 Players
SB: $200
BB: $200
UTG: $200
MP: $200
Hero (CO): $200
BTN: $200
Pre Flop: ($3) Hero is CO with A Q
2 folds, Hero raises to $8, 2 folds, BB calls $8
Flop: ($17) J K 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $13, BB calls $13
Always consider the texture of the flop and how likely it is that your opponent will have made a hand that they will be prepared to call a bet with. The wetter (more coordinated) the flop is, the more reluctant you should be to attempt a continuation bet when you have not made a strong hand yourself.
Factors that influence continuation betting.
1. The number of players in the pot.
2. Your position in the hand.
Number of players in the pot.
Delayed Cbet Poker
The play is more successful against 1 opponent rather than 2 or more because of the simple fact that there is a greater chance that an opponent has connected with the flop. It is recommended that you restrict the use of continuation bets to when you are up against one opponent, although it is possible to fire a successful bet against multiple opponents.
The less players there are in the pot, the greater the chances of your continuation bet being successful. Try to only use continuation bets when you are heads up in a hand.
You should also remember that the more you use continuation bets, the less respect you will get for them as play goes on. Be aware of the frequency that you use them so that you don't end up being on the end of a re-raise or check-raise from a player who has figured you out.
Position in the hand.
Position also helps because if you are last to act as you have the opportunity to see your opponent act first and decide whether you believe a continuation bet will be successful. But beware of tricky players who may expect you to make a continuation bet and check-raise you.
Continuation bets are more successful when you have position over your opponent(s).
This is not uncommon so try and get as good a knowledge of your opponent as possible before making moves and be prepared to fold if you hold nothing. Don't feel as though you have to call if you get raised because you are more than likely not pot-committed. Just fold your cards and accept that the play didn't work out that time, save your chips for when you do make the hand.
Continuation bet evaluation.
Continuation bets are commonplace in today's Texas hold em poker game, so it is in your best interest to familiarize yourself with them and start incorporating them into your play.
There are no set rules to when these plays will work, but there are guidelines as mentioned above that you can follow to help improve the effectiveness of the play. The best way to learn how and when to use continuation bets is to go and sit down at a table and experiment a little. The good thing about continuation bets is that they are relatively inexpensive to use, so you won't be losing a whole load of money trying to learn how and when to use them.
Related articles.
- Continuation Betting (By Jack Wilcox)
For more strategy on how and when to making continuation bets, watch SplitSuit's C-Betting Like A Champion concept video.
Go back to the awesome Texas Hold'em Strategy.
Cbet Pokeris
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