The Continuation Bet

Before defining a continuation bet, we need to understand the concept of being “in the lead.” Being in the lead means that you were the last person to act agressively, either betting or raising. If you were the last raiser before the flop, and everyone checks to you (or you are first to act) on the flop, you have the opportunity to make a continuation bet. You must have been the very last aggressor to be in the lead; if you were the raiser before the flop and someone bets out before the action reaches you, you are no longer in the lead and there’s no opportunity for the continuation bet.

The continuation bet is key to the success of aggressive players. In Limit Hold’em, good players consistently bludgeon weaker, more passive competition by continuation betting at virtually every opportunity. One should not be quite so indiscriminate in No Limit, but good, aggressive players consistently pick up small to medium size pots by continuation betting more and more correctly than their competition.

Limit Hold’em

You should continuation bet every flop against less than four opponents. With four or more, you can simply check and fold if you’ve missed completely. The turn and river are much trickier, as a call on the flop usually means some type of hand or draw. Here are some general guidelines: against loose players you should continuation bet as much as possible, against tight players, especially aggressive tight players you should exercise more caution. In any case, you must be continuation betting the turn and, to a lesser externt, the river, a good percent of the time even when you’ve missed (assuming we’re down to heads up, against two or more you can give up much more often). If we don’t consistently continuation bet, even when we’ve missed, we become way too easy to read and fold against.

No Limit Hold’em

The decision to continuation bet after missing the flop is significantly more difficult in No Limit. The problem, of course, is that you’re risking much more. You still need to do it enough to disguise your hand when you hit. Agaist weak, loose players who consistently call to see flops and then fold if they miss (players unlikely to bluff or semi-bluff) you should continuation bet every time. However, against good, aggressive players, check a lot; you should also start checking some of the time you miss, for deception. Continuation bet on the turn rarely, and certainly don’t make it your default play. Be even more selective on the river. Remember though, if you never bluff in a certain situation, your opponents will start to always fold, if they’re good.

Pot Limit Omaha

In Pot Limit Omaha continuation bets should not be routine. Again, against weak, passive opponents continuation bet at will. The problem in Omaha, especially against more than one opponent, is that so often someone will have hit the nuts or close to them. Here’s one exception: If you have made a large reraise before the flop and no one has gone back over top of you, you should almost always continuation bet when an Ace flops. Most players are happy to get it all in preflop with aces, and automatically assume you have aces when you make a big reraise preflop. So whether you actually have the set or not, it’s profitable to make a pot-sized bet.