Continuation Bet: When to C‑bet and When to Check
A continuation bet (c‑bet) is a bet on the flop by the preflop raiser. It works when the board favors the raiser's range: on dry, high boards a small c‑bet often takes the pot or builds it cheaply; on wet boards a bigger bet charges the draws; on low, connected boards that hit the caller, checking is often better. A c‑bet bluff of a third of the pot must work 25% of the time.
A spot to decide: ace-five on 9‑7‑4
Heads-up on the button with A♣5♦, you opened and the big blind called. The flop comes 9♠ 7♦ 4♠ and the big blind checks to you. Check back, bet 33% of the pot, or bet 75%?
See the answer
Whose board it is. Low, connected cards like 9‑7‑4 hit the big blind's calling range (suited connectors, small pairs) more than the button's opening range.
The decision. The expected answer is to check back: ace-high keeps some showdown value and backdoor straight draws, and a bet would mostly get called by the hands that beat it.
C‑bet plans by board, from our spots
Each row is a spot from our quizzes: try them first, then open the answers.
See the answer
| Flop | Example | Expected answer |
|---|---|---|
| K‑7‑2, rainbow | A♠Q♣ on the button | small bet, 25% of the pot |
| A‑8‑3, rainbow | K♠7♠ on the button | small bet, 33% of the pot |
| J‑7‑4, two-tone | A♣J♣, top pair, cutoff | big bet, 70% of the pot |
| Q‑9‑8, two-tone | A♥A♦, overpair, cutoff | bet 60% of the pot |
| 9‑7‑4, two-tone | A♣5♦ on the button | check |
How often a c‑bet bluff must work
| C‑bet size | Folds needed to break even |
|---|---|
| 25% of the pot | 20% |
| a third of the pot | 25% |
| half the pot | 33.3% |
| 70% of the pot | 41.2% |
A small c‑bet risks little and only needs a few folds, which is why it can be bet so often on boards that favor you. The general formula is in how often a bluff must work.
The common mistake: c‑betting on autopilot
Betting every flop because you raised preflop makes you easy to read: you bluff into boards that hit your opponent and you size the same on every texture. Ask two questions first: does this board favor my range, and what does my bet want to achieve, folds or value?
Keep going
- Practice the sizes: the c‑bet quiz.
- Dry boards in detail: c‑bet on dry boards.
- Wet boards in detail: c‑bet on wet boards.
- From the other side of the table: minimum defense frequency.
- One spot every day: the daily poker puzzle.
- When several players called: c‑bet in multiway pots.
- Raising the bettor instead of calling: the check‑raise.
- Betting the turn again after a called c‑bet: the double barrel.
- Exact equities on an ace-high dry board: the ace-high dry flop.
- How deep the stacks really are on the flop: the stack-to-pot ratio.
- What a paired flop really changes: paired board strategy.
- Betting the turn after the flop checked through: the delayed c‑bet.
- Who holds the best hands on a given flop: range advantage.
- When the other player bets before your c‑bet: the donk bet.
- How much to bet after the flop: poker bet sizing.
- The street after the c‑bet: turn strategy.
- When not to c‑bet: checking back the flop.
- The wrong c‑bet size, and other mistakes: common poker mistakes.
For the rest of the hand from the big blind, see playing the big blind postflop.
Sources
- The board-by-board answers come from the app's curated spots; the break-even percentages are computed from bet ÷ (pot + bet), checked on October 10, 2026.
- The answers follow rules written by the app's author; they do not come from a solver.