Continuation Bets....

[Slinky]

Right i'm a firm believer of cont bets..I nearly always follow through with the bet if i'm the initial raiser!! Only time i wont do this is if i know my table well and the person/s in the pot with me are only likely to come along with a big hand!! Or often if i've been at the table long enough in the particular session i get a feel on these things!

Anyways my problem here is just lately i'm nearly always getting reraised after my cont bet or not having the "feel" .. but i feel lately there is always a hand that has hit! And to prove a point to myself last night i decided to call a few reraises to my bets too see if its my play being attacked .. maybe i was weak or whatever but anyways this cost me dearly lol I was beat!!!

So please can anyone post some help here.. i.e hands you would NEVER cont bet with and/or what positions you wouldnt cont bet in....Any help grateful thankyou as i have a big flaw atm with this!!

[driverx]

Well I usually use continuation bets in late positions with cards like AT to AK or suited connectors. The first thing I have to consider is:

Should I bet preflop? And what if yes what if I totally miss the flop? If this happens I easily take the advantage of my table position and if players before me just checked I usually come with a big bet like 6BB (if I bet for example 2BB preflop) or something to convince them that I have a monster or that I hit the flop although I didn't. Players usually fold in this situation.

Another thing is just limp in and see the flop. If it is not so good, but on the other hand not so bad (like J96 and me having A9) I decide to slowplay it and bet the minimum to show that I am unsure about the strenght of my cards. Usually there is a bunch of players that calls that (if they raise it a lot I usually fold). If there is no overcard on turn I try to bet a lot (6BB or higher) - it is like saying to my oponents: hey, I just bluffed on flop, I really got the jacks and I want you to fold before we will see the river. If someone calls this big bet I usually just check the river or fold to the big bets on river or depending on my stack reraising the river if no overcard is shown.

Maybe this is no ideal description of continuation bets and some more experienced here could give you more hints on that, but this is how I understand what continuation betting is :)

[Slinky]

Another thing is just limp in and see the flop. If it is not so good, but on the other hand not so bad (like J96 and me having A9) I decide to slowplay it and bet the minimum to show that I am unsure about the strenght of my cards.

I'm a tight aggressive cash game player and very very rarely limp..And one thing you never want to do is show weakness, good players will pick up on a weak player very quickly and extract your bankroll ;)

[Frydenholm1]

And one thing you never want to do is show weakness, good players will pick up on a weak player very quickly and extract your bankroll ;)

You're quite right about that and thats also a good reason to be careful about continuation bets. They cost a lot of money if you're not shure and the risk of a raise that you will not call anyway is pretty high.

Before you bet, you shall always make it clear to yourself how big a raise, you're willing to call. Knowing that you'll have to consider betting that sum instead of a cont bet.

Betting is all about creating a universe in which the other players believe you to have the best hand. If you show cont bet again and again they wont. They'll just see you as stubborn and then you'll be playing their game instead of the opposite.

[Mlubin]

I think that you need to balance the amount in which you are cbetting. If you are cbetting every hand people are more likely to call or raise you more often. also by cbetting every hand you are not giving yourself a chance to checkraise for value or as a bluff and therefore losing value. I have found that the key to cbetting with weaker holdings is to do so when the board is unlikely to have hit your opponents range because at lower stakes the risk of getting check raise bluffed on the flop is very small.

[LiveStraddle]

I wont cont bet when i have the stone nuts and i have a read that my opponent has a hig hfold to cb%, i generally wont cb monotone boards, i often wont bet boards like akk/aak b/c it seems to obvious i havnt hit (might cb when i have hit and get opponent to try and play tricky; dont need to be too advanced b/c im playin nl20)