Top 3 Tips for C-Betting

To build an effective c-betting strategy, you simply can’t be firing random bets on every flop, as you might see in gambling movies. Some players miss out on the opportunity to c-bet, while others resort to it so much that it impacts their game negatively, and you need to avoid both of these extremes.

You need to know how to get the best EV in every situation you find yourself in and understand which hands actually make good c-betting candidates and which not.

Since that is one of the most common situations you will find yourself in, these decisions will significantly influence your overall win rate.

Luckily, we’ve summed up the top three tips for c-betting that will help you on your way to becoming a more successful poker player. So let’s jump right in.

1. Know How to Adjust When OOP

Looking deeper into the root of c-betting problems for most players, the number of players who don’t know differences of proper strategies when IP (in position) and OOP (Out of Position) is shockingly high.

Obviously, playing out of position is disadvantageous, as you don’t get to see what your opponent does before you can make your decision. Moreover, it’s much more challenging to realize your equity.

Another significant disadvantage is that when you’re OOP, you have more streets to bluff catch if you check, so how to compensate for that?

The answer is to adjust by tightening your ranges. In other words, when you’re OOP, you should be checking significantly stronger hands than when you’re IP.

As a result, you will be check/calling more often than check/raising, giving your opponents a chance to keep bluffing. Although this might seem counterproductive at times, this will yield you better returns in the long run.

Knowing how to adjust in OOP will give you a fighting chance against aggressive opponents, as you can bluff-catch much more efficiently and protect your checking range at the same time.

2. Don’t Shy Away from Exploitative Tactics

Game Theory Optimal (GTO) is a popular umbrella term used by poker pros that describes the ideal strategy, which renders you unexploitable and significantly improves your win rates. Not knowing GTO strategy is like playing slots at the poker table; you just hope for the best. While you surely need to understand a balanced approach, you should also focus on the other side of the coin – learning strategies that will help you exploit other players to increase your win rate.

To take advantage of other players’ errors, you first need to determine what these errors are, and this is where an understanding of GTO comes into play. If you’re primarily a live poker player, this means observing the clues your opponents are giving out and noticing their actions and betting patterns.

If you’re playing online, you’ll have a much easier task, as all of the information will be readily available to you. You can set up a comprehensive stats HUD that will provide valuable data on what mistakes your opponents are making.

Try to observe how often your opponents are betting, do they change strategy IP and OOP, are they checking strong hands, and how they proceed after the flop.

With this information in mind, you can easily exploit anyone when you notice some irregularities in their play. If you notice someone c-betting too often and then giving up, just float more hands or raise their bets. If you see someone checking and folding too much, stab with your bluffs and check back your strong hands.

When you know your opponents’ tendencies, it is very easy to exploit them, so make sure to observe that information whenever you play.

3. Check Some Strong Holdings in IP

Before going any further, you’ll be betting your strongest hands the vast majority of the time. That said, you should also assess part of your range and determine if you should check each specific hand or not.

For example, it’s perfectly normal to check strong holdings when you’re IP, not only in OOP like we discussed above. To help you out, we’ll highlight a few crucial guidelines that will assist you in your decision-making process whether or not you should check your monsters:

• There are no community cards that can hurt you.
• Your hand blocks most hands your opponent could carry on with.
• You have a great hand, and the board entirely misses the opponent’s range.

As with any other poker strategy, you should strive to find a good balance to get the best results, but having strong hands in your checking range is a must against any competent opponent.

About the Author

Tadas Peckaitis is a professional poker player, author, and poker coach at mypokercoaching.com. He writes for a range of online publications and helps other poker players to excel. If you are looking to up your game or find interesting information about poker, you can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

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