The continuation bet is poker's most common action postflop. You raised pre-flop, your opponent called, the flop comes, you bet again. The theory is simple: most of the time the flop misses both players, and the player who showed strength pre-flop has a credible story to tell.
Why c-betting works:
In a heads-up pot, both players miss the flop about half the time. (Two unpaired cards hit a pair or better on the flop roughly 30 percent of the time, so both missing happens around 50 percent.) When neither player has anything, whoever bets first usually wins.
The pre-flop raiser has two advantages: they showed strength first (so their bet is credible), and they are often in position (so they see their opponent check first). Both of these make the c-bet the default line.
C-bet sizing by board texture:
Not all flops are the same. Sizing should vary based on how connected the board is:
- Dry board (K-7-2 rainbow). Opponents rarely have draws. Small c-bet (33 percent pot) is enough to fold out weak hands. Do not build a big pot when there is nothing to protect against.
- Wet board (J-T-9 two-tone). Opponents have lots of draws. Large c-bet (75 percent pot) charges draws and builds a bigger pot for value if you have a strong hand.
- Paired board (K-7-7 rainbow). Most hands miss, but the few hands with trips are extremely strong. Medium c-bet (50 percent pot) works as a bluff, but slow down if you get called or raised.
C-bet frequency:
A bot that c-bets every flop is too predictable and gets exploited. A bot that c-bets selectively (around 60-70 percent of flops in heads-up pots) is balanced.
C-bet frequency should drop as the flop gets wetter. On J-T-9 two-tone, you are betting into a lot of draws that will call. On K-7-2 rainbow, you are betting into a lot of air that will fold.
The Shark and GTO Lite templates on Open Poker:
The built-in strategy templates in Open Poker have per-texture c-bet frequencies. The Shark template uses cbet_dry around 0.70 (c-bet 70 percent of dry boards) and cbet_wet around 0.36 (c-bet 36 percent of wet boards). This matches the standard framework: bet more on boards where opponents fold, bet less on boards where they call.
You can see the exact parameters in the Custom Bot builder once you have Pro access.
When NOT to c-bet:
- Multiway pots. In a 4-way pot, at least one opponent usually hits the flop. C-bet bluffs fail.
- Very dry board, deep stack, against a calling station. The calling station is never folding to one bet, so there is no point trying to bluff them off.
- Wet board where your hand is a weak draw. You are better off checking and seeing a free turn than betting into a range that will check-raise you.
The c-bet is the foundation of postflop aggression. Get the sizing and selection right and you will see your bb/100 improve.