Poker Mistakes: Why Your Continuation Bets Might Be Failing

Continuation betting is a crucial aspect of poker strategy, but many players struggle with it. Understanding who to target, proper sizing, and adjusting to the number of players involved can significantly improve your success rate.

Picking Your Target

Direct your continuation bets towards players who flat from the big blind or small blind. These players tend to call too much, making them ideal targets. Big blind flatters, in particular, often do not check-raise bluff frequently enough, allowing you to keep blasting them. Small blind flatters also call too much and three-bet their best hands, making them vulnerable to your bets. Additionally, players who cold call on the button with weak hands should be targeted, as they cannot defend their hands effectively.

Choosing Your Sizing

A half-pot continuation bet is particularly effective. This sizing looks intimidating and only needs to work 33.33% of the time to be profitable. Larger bets can also be effective, but the half-pot bet is a reliable choice for heads-up pots.

Adjusting to the Number of Players

In multiway pots, smaller bluff bets are more effective because players assume someone has a strong hand. In heads-up situations, you can fire more often, especially against players who cold call too much. Against tighter ranges, such as under-the-gun plus two cold callers, you should check more often. In three-way pots, bluffing is possible, but in softer games, you can bluff more frequently. In pots with three or four opponents, bluffing should be rare.