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Continuation Bets in Texas Hold'em

A common situation in poker is that a player will look at their hole cards, like what they see, decide to raise and then get called by one opponent. More often than not that player is going to miss the flop and what then invariably happens is that they decide to check; their opponent bets and they fold. It happens so many times, usually when you're holding a hand like A-K that you feel like having the T-Shirt printed… "Raise, Check, Fold!"

Taking into account the well-known poker maxim that "most flops miss most players" a well established tactic with good poker players is to again take the initiative, even though they didn't improve their hand. This is known as the Continuation Bet and it is often successful in winning a hand you might otherwise have been prepared to give up on.

The flop comes down with nothing to help you but in positive fashion you immediately post another bet. This now puts the pressure on your opponent. If they have also missed the flop then they have to call or re-raise with nothing in their hand and that's hard to do, considering they also called the raise before the flop. More often than not they will muck their cards if they have nothing viable to continue with.

There are some players who will spot a Continuation Bet for what it is and not be afraid to re-raise back, in which case it's usually best to admit defeat. There are also the Calling Station players who will just never fold, no matter what you bet and you'd be well advised to just check (because that's probably what they'll do as well) and then hope that you hit the cards you need on the turn or river.

If your Continuation Bet just gets called then you can usually assume that your opponent has either made something like a middle or bottom pair, or is drawing to a better hand. At that point you will need to look at the turn to decide if it's worth trying another bet to try and win the pot. Don't get caught feeding the pot if it's clear that your opponent has a hand and is clearly not going to fold.

A Continuation Bet is not a bluff as such. It is simply a positive play from a player who is continuing to take the initiative and not letting their opponent gain the upper hand, or a free card. It can also be seen as a tester bet, whereby you put a feeler out there to determine what your opponent might possibly be holding.

If you do try the Continuation Bet then please try to avoid one of the most common mistakes made by inexperienced players, with hands such as A-K, A-Q and A-J. Having raised before the flop they fail to hit anything when the first three community cards come down but then go all-in, without having any idea at all about what their opponents might be holding.

This is not a tester bet. It is risking all of your chips in the blind hope that your opponent will fold! If you're going to go all-in with a big starting hand then do it before the flop, not after you've failed to add anything to your own hand but given your opponents three cards to improve theirs.

More Texas Hold'em Lessons

01. TEXAS HOLD'EM STT STRATEGY	ANDROID POKER - HTC, Samsung, LG, SONY
02. DON'T CHASE LOSSES
03. ONLINE TELLS
04. PLAYING CONNECTORS
05. CONTINUATION BETS
06. PLAY YOUR OPPONENT
07. IMPLIED ODDS IN TEXAS HOLD'EM
08. POKER CHARACTERS
09. TEXAS HOLD'EM MTT STRATEGY TIPS
10. IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING POKER NOTES