Hi,

is it correct to cbet the top and bottom of my range even at micro stakes?

Im currently playing 5nl and Im a bit unsure when to cbet.
Could somebody explain cbetting to me in laymans terms?

regards

Don't bet the absolute bottom of your range on the flop. Some hands are so bad that you should usually just give up with them and try to improve with a free card.
If you break your range up into 4 categories (see below), then it's the top and third group that make for the clearest c-bets.
A. Strong value. (Bet and try and win a big pot.)
B. Mid-strength. (Check and try to win a small pot at showdown).
C. Draws. (Bet and hope to win immediately, but you still have outs if you get called).
D. Total air. (Check and give up. Don't put money in the pot with very little chance of winning).

P.S. To give a realistic example...

If the flop is Kh Tc 4s, then an example combo for each group would be...
A. TT. (Middle set is a huge hand. Bet it for value).
B. QQ (2nd pair, has showdown value, but won't win if the pot gets big, so you should check).
C. QJs (OESD, so has robust equity even if villain calls. Bet it as a semi-bluff).
D. 76dd (Has almost 0% equity vs anything that calls, and won't be able to barrel many turn cards, so just check and give up immediately.)

I'd also add flop texture, my position relative to the villain and who I am betting against as factors. I try to avoid "always do this" rules - because I fear someone will catch on and just play perfectly against me. (my personal exceptions to the 'not always' rule are marked in bold below)

Some considerations for flop texture:
- Wet flop and I want to protect an overpair -> mostly cbet
- Wet flop and I have a draw -> mostly cbet
- Dry flop when I have an overpair or I flop a monster (example. AK on a KK2 board) -> No point in c-betting. Rather let someone catch up first or give someone the chance to try and bluff/hang themselves when they think I've given up. Against a total pro who thinks you're an ABC player I would c-bet this always, because they never give you credit for doing such a 'stupid' thing on such a board. You get 2 streets of value out of them until they catch on - at least.
- Dry flop when I have air but the flop didn't hit the villains positional range -> mostly c-bet
- a flop where I hit a disguised monster (e.g. bottom set) with an ace on the board -> Always c-bet. People like to play aces and this strat has proven very lucrative (in my, admittedly, limited experience). If they don't have an ace you're not going to get any more chips out of them anyways.

Opponent:
- against more than one opponent I tend to c-bet a lot less to not-at-all as a bluff or semi-bluff...only for value
- Against someone I think is a good LAG: I c-bet less as a total bluff. To a LAG a c-bet means next to nothing. Unless the board is super scary to his range and hits mine really hard such a bet wastes only chips.
- Against a foldy player (calls/raises if he hits and folds if he misses) If he called in middle/late position against my early position raise I'd c-bet any ace or king on the board irrespective of my hand. (I think form a pure math standpoint you can potsize c-bet 100% of your hands and still be +EV against such a player..but I have to go and look that one up again so don't quote me on that).
- Conversely if I'm in late position I'd c-bet a low card flop if checked to by such a player with most hands (assuming it went limp/raise by me/call by him preflop)...though not nearly as often, as many players will more likely continue with overcards. This is a strat I'm not yet convinced is long-term profitable, tho.
- Against a calling-station: Only c-bet if I have it. There's absolutely no point in c-betting a calling station as a bluff or semi-bluff.

..oh yeah...as some here taught me: Stack size. Don't c-bet someone who is shortstacked or already pot comitted as a bluff or semi-bluff (unless you have so many chips that you can afford to gamble and want to knock someone out in a tournament)

When I study I usually concentrate on one area where I'm weak or I want to get better, and I concentrate on the subject for a month. C-betting was one of those topics that I worked on for a month.

Jonathan Little wrote a book with the title Bluffs. One of the things that I learned was that a lot of bluffs are in fact semi-bluffs. Continuation betting is a semi-bluff and Little devotes a chapter of his book to C-betting. I would definitely check that out.

Something that I do when I'm playing online is that I always have a couple clipboards facing so that I can read what's on the paper. Today my clipboards are "Loose Opening Ranges" and "Continuation Bettting." When I'm learning something new or if I just want to keep on track, those clipboards help. Also, having them in front of me all the time helps with memorizing things like hand ranges.

When I read Little's chapter on C-betting, I went through it, picked out some bullet points and put them on paper. I'm not saying that depending on bullet points is the way to get great at poker, but having the basics right in front of me helps me stay on track.

Here is what one of my clipboards has on it today:

CONTINUATION BETTING

Against 2 players, both will miss the flop 42% of the time, making a C-bet profitable.

C-bet Dry boards.

C-bet high card boards.

C-bet on all boards where you have a range advantage.

C-bet less against good players.

Check if you think that villain is likely to fold.

Consider checking with marginal made hands.

Check when the turn is unlikely to make your hand worse.

Nice thread, OP. Typically hero should have some connection with the board if he is going to bet.

Would it be better to say "Typically hero's range should have some connection with the board if he is going to bet"? In line with:

C-bet on all boards where you have a range advantage.

In other words, when I open and get one caller, and the flop is ace high, I almost always cbet because I have more aces in my range?

Cbetting - WGCRider

I made a video on youtube discussing this. It is called "When and How Much to Continuation Bet - Now You Know!"

Thanks - just watched myself and really helpful.

thanks for the video, I will take the seven days trial on your site

Also, it helps to note how your hand will change as you continue. Sometimes they're good for semi-bluffing spots, or for getting thin value, but not as calls themselves.

So it's not just about automatically taking the pot away, there's a ton of other factors.