I tend to play full-ring mid-limit NLHE cash games.

I am a little frustrated right now when it comes to c. betting. I have really ratcheted up the aggression in my game lately (with help from Cardrunners) but I find that c. betting has now become a leak for me. My c. bets tend to be roughly 75-90% of the pot, and I will sometimes hold back on c. betting when OOP, when facing multiple callers. and when there are lots of draws on the board. With missed flops, it seems that my c. bets either win me a little or lose me a lot, especially if I fire 2 barrels. I think that at these limits I may need to just back off the c. bets a little and wait to hit my flops.

Any advice on how to approach c. betting?

Although you should C-bet a high% of the time in your overall strategy, you have to remember that each individual C-bet you make is it's own bet with it's own % of succeeding.

Next time you raise PF and get called and checked to, don't just think 'Raised pre, gotta C-bet', analyze what chance your bet has of being +EV and make a separate decision for every C-bet you make, as every C-bet will be in a different situation to the last.

One thing I used to struggle with a lot is that I would bet blindly all the time, like if I had 44 and the board came 9TJ monotone i wouldn't even think before betting. There are spots/board textures when C-betting even in a HU pot is not going to be profitable, think hard and find these spots.

But you should still probably be C-betting a pretty high%

Sounds like you've got it for the most part - the real considerations for c-bets are:

Texture of the flop
Position and amount of ppl in the hand
Your table image and that of the ppl left in the hand - far less point c-betting into a calling station

Personally I wouldn't c-bet more than 50-75% in a tournament and maybe 80% in a cash game

Although I'm a tourney player and CBing situations are a bit different than in cash play, here are some of my general rules about CBing (keeping in mind that they are general rules and, as such, I will sometimes break them in the right situation):

1) Don't CB with a missed hand into more than one opponent (e.g., raise AQ, get 2 callers, whiff on the flop)
2) On non-drawy flops I will typically CB about 50% of the pot
3) On more draw-heavy flops I will increase my CB to 66%-75% of the pot
4) With a made hand and more than one opponent, I will usually increase my CB to closer to pot-sized
5) Almost always CB against one opponent regardless of hand and position (though sometimes keeping the pot small with a missed hand will be a priority, which isn't really a cash play concern)

As a general comment, if people are calling you down or raising your CBs, forcing you to fold or back down, then you're probably CBing too often and they've picked up on it. When that starts to happen, cut down on your CB frequency with missed hands.

I don't agree with dat - people will pick up on it quickly, why telegraph any information with bet size

1) With more opponents in the hand you need larger bets to reduce the pot odds of those last to act. If you make a half-pot bet and get a caller, a third player can be priced in with a wide range. Say you raise KdKs, get 3 callers, and the flop comes Jh7c6h. You absolutely do not want to give irresistible pot odds for people to chase their draws or Ace overcard. Against only one villain you can make a smaller bet and still give him the wrong odds.
2) Like I said, these are general rules.

To establish a pattern. Once they think that a pot sized bet means you made a good hand, you can start using that as a bluff. You establish the pattern so that later on you can break the pattern.

Aye, that's fair game, but wasn't mentioned in the post so I thought i'd bring it up

Dangerous flops looks dangerous to our opponents as well.

you simply have to stop using the cbet as a closed move for itself, better look at it as a usual semi-bluff value bet that doesn't close the hand just because your opponent calls you.

in order to be able to do that, you have to stop to only play flop-textures. think about your opponent and think if it actually makes sense to cbet into a calling station. if you have a read on a player that he peels a lot (even without a real draw, maybe just 2 overs) to see the turn, either to hit his outs or to bluff you out if you dont show resistance, then simply 2 barrel him every time on a safe turn. if you have an agggro donk who will try to fight for the pot then go for the bluff-check-raise (a move that works like 75% of the time against those kind of LAGS, because if they actually have something, they will show you that by changing their betting pattern).

to say it more simple: don't be a robot.

the fact that some of your c-bets are as high as 90% of the pot makes it pretty obvious that your getting frustrated. 60-75% of the pot is often plenty. The main thing is to make your cbets mean something. if you raise PF and cbet a board like 862, not even your own mother is gonna believe you. Sometimes in these cases you want to delay the cbet to the turn, hoping for a card you can represent.

The thing that makes your cbets viable, are the times you dont cbet.

Huh? Nobody would believe that Hero might have, say, 77-AA in this situation? CBing isn't just about repping a connected hand on the flop, it's also about repping a made hand PF. The benefit of CBing a flop like 862 is that your opponent won't know if you're CBing with missed overs or a med-high PP (and it is unlikely to have connected with villain's hand). Which is also why it is important to be willing to fire a 2nd barrel sometimes and not always pull back when your CB gets called.

Not necessarily true. If you make a habit of consistently CBing, your opponents won't know when you have a made hand and when you don't. It also entices them to play back at you, which can be very rewarding when you do have a big hand. The point is to disguise your hands one way or the other and not just CB with made hands and check-fold with missed hands.

Any guidelines for firing 2 barrels?

LOL, I'm far from an expert on it - I have trouble pulling the trigger myself often. Firing 2 (and 3) barrels is basically a function of your stack size (at least in tourney situations), your read on your opponent, and the texture of the board. In general, though, many low limit players will call flop bets to give themselves one more chance to improve but will often give up on the turn or river.

Definitely a point to remember, think about how your opponents range fares with the board rather than your own two cards



1) When the turn changes the board texture, say you C-bet a 963r board and the turn comes any broadway, this is a great spot to fire as you're opponents range is generaly going to be very weak and you can creditably rep a better hand.

2) When you think you're opponent is calling flops with nothing but won't continue past the turn, this is a very exploitable trend that sooo many players have, find theese players and pound on them, they're the 65/5/0.5 guy who's finger is hovered above the call button on the flop 'just to see if you'll give up on the turn'

3) In very rare scenarios, when you believe you can 3-barrel profitably

Don't be scared to open your game up and fire two barrel bluffs if you believe it's a profitable situation to do so, and after a while you'll probably notice that people fold more to two barrels than you thought they would.

Also, your C-bets failing a lot could be an indication that you're playing too loose PF, especialy in a full ring game

I have also found that I was losing money on m c-bets. What are your guys thoughts on checking the flop and using the turn as a platform for a c-bet when in position against 1-2 opponents? I know in a sense it is not a true c-bet becuase you have waited one more street to make this move but I find when your opp. have caught on to the flop c-bet this tends to look stronger. Plus there is much more info available to you and it keeps the pot relatively small.

When I make a hand on the flop and it is draw heavy I will c-bet the flop but when you miss and the flop is uncoordinated this works a decent amount of the time. Obviously you want to have a good mix of flop bets and turn bets to throw the opp. off but when you wiff the flop most of the time and are getting called often with a c-bet there you can always wait one more street to decide if it is worth it.

Let me know your thoughts on this line of thinking....

For the delayed CB to work you need to be able to represent the turn card as a scare card. For example, raising PF, checking KT7 rainbow flop, but then betting at a 3 on the turn isn't going to trick anyone.

I think this is true. I have to remember to not just copy the style of the Cardrunner guys (who are extremely aggressive), but to incorporate an aggressive appraoch into MY game.

Thanks for all of the great feedback everyone!!! I have already made some changes for the better.

This is true for the most part unless you are known to check second pair in position on the flop the odd time. I don't do this move often, only when my opponents have stopped respecting my flop c-bets and even then it is not done everytime.

Also with the above example even if you do delay the c-bet to the turn and your opponent calls, what are they calling with? 7? T? or maybe just a draw. This allows you to fire on the river for cheap (1/2 pot) if nothing coordinated hits and most likely take down it down because it would seem as though you do have the ten.

Ok true, and I probably could have elaborated a bit more. The point i was trying to make was that a hand the raises PF is much less likley to have a made hand on a flop containing all small cards than if there is a big face card. You dont hold pocket pairs all that often that often, but if you always c-bet these flops a watchful opponent is going to realise that you are betting with missed overs a lot of the time.

When I said that its not belivable, i really meant it wasnt believable that a significant percentage of your bets actually have the cards to back them up, not that you cant ever have anything.

yes definetely a cbet is necessary it adds deception and also ,keep in mind you have fold. equity since you are the raiser and you always want the be the aggressor and have them guessing at you. If you c-bet into 4 or 5 people that will get expensive if you have complete air. I would say into 2 or 3 because of the pot size your bet will not have to be as big and there is less hands and draws you have to get through. Also your bets are way to big a bet of 40-66% of the pot will do the same thing especially in NL cash. In to a bigger pot with 3 bet less to save yourself money and heads up do more its that easy.Also what is your PF raises in relation to the blinds. Small raises let you control the pot in marginal spots and keeps them guessing at you.Under most circumstances after you raise you should bet out 90% of the time becuase it adds deception and you wanna get paid of when you actually a have a good hand and by keeping it small when PF and on the flop saves money when you miss and when you have it you still have turn and river to get more money in the pot. In most games you will get plenty of action when you have it

Some rules for C betting-
1. Dont C bet into 4 or more with air
2.Dont C-bet with air if you are severely short or your opponents are
3.Control the size of the pot with smaller PF raises so when you cbet and get caught the math is on your side
4.If you whiff and your cbet gets called concede the pot

Also why it is important to be aware of your image and how that affects that others do at the table. CBing garbage flops when you're a 12/10 VPIP/PFR type of player will get a lot more respect than when you're a 30/25 type of player.