To cbet or not to cbet, that's the question...

CBets are a big part of my game. I get a lot of pots when I isolate and cbet regardless of the hand I have, villain, etc. Until now I don't remember one villain that has picked that I cbet constantly. Then again I think most 2NL villains don't know what a cbet is, so maybe it's pointless sometimes.

Why do I cbet consistently (or more likely 100% of the time) is easy to explain, to avoid reads. If I cbet with air, with a made hand or with a draw, no one really knows what I have when I cbet.

So I have the benefits of cbet, problem is I have no idea when not to cbet. This doesn't worry me at the current limits because I think most don't even notice what I'm doing but I'm sure that I'll be having problems later.

Should I mix, like sometimes simply not cbet regardless of hand? Should I take the opportunity to get free cards on draws? Should I cbet tight players but not calling stations?

Any opinions are welcome.

You shoulden't be c-betting close to 100% as you say, even people at 2nl will notice that. I tend to c-bet if I have an idea of someones calling range and if the board comes out where it would in general hit them quite hard I tend to leave c-betting and check/fold. I general though, if you c-bet after your intital raise and any "scare" card comes I tend to lead out. The problem is, there are a lot of calling stations or people who call with Ax/Kx and so on, the problem is you know the majority of the time they wont ever think "My Kicker is weak here and he's aggressive, so I'm laying down" They just see their Ace and think "Ok top pair, I'm calling down I have best hand"

So yeah, in general you have to be quite careful with c-bets at the micros because a lot will call even if they hit any part of the board, so your best bet with garbage cards is to check/fold and if you of course have overs or hit a card then c-bet away and keep the pressure on. I tend to find a c-bet at the micros can't really run people out of the hand, epically on any draw or any card they have hit, it's pretty much like the saying goes "Don't bluff at micros, it won't work" This seems to be the case with C-bets, it's just another bluff and how many bullets are you will to fire before you give up the pot as like I say, it's nearly impossible to get anyone to lay down even bottom pair at times lol.

At 2NL or even 5NL Cbets will work a lot better than at higher limits, and I would venture to say that you would be a long-term winner by CBetting 80% of the time. there are three occasions where I would be a bit more careful at 2NL -

1. Out of position with air. This is sometimes just bad in general, but couple the propensity of players at this level calling with anything on the board, plus having position on you is a double whammy that is a long-term loser.

2. Opening bets ahead of you post-flop. At this level, someone has hit something. I dont mean min-bets (although bet-sizing at this level can be abysmal), but larger ones...unless you see someone with stats like75/6 or something chances are good they aren't drawing.

3. Loose people left to act ahead of you. Assuming you use a HUD, I tend to look ahead to the players left to act if I have whipped the flop, and the likelihood that they might flat call. Conversely, if I have hit, that would influence my CBet size.

Hope this helps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by edgie212 At 2NL or even 5NL Cbets will work a lot better than at higher limits, and I would venture to say that you would be a long-term winner by CBetting 80% of the time. there are three occasions where I would be a bit more careful at 2NL -

The C-Bet is so heard of, even people at low limits know what a C-BET is.

The thing is, what happens when you are called? Do you give up or fire again? And if you do and they call again, what happens next?

I think the main problem with micro limits, is c-betting to often, players very very often will call down regardless if they have ANY draw or hit ANY pair, or even if they hold an over card, they will call.

I think you're lucky to take down the pot 20% of the time from C-betting.

Just checked PT3 and of all the times I'm the raiser I cbet 86% of the time and have a winrate of 68%. Not saying that I'm doing it right, actually I think I should do it less after finding out what situations are not profitable. But to be absolutely honest, it's not the 2NL that I play now that worries me, but the long term since I don't want to grow tied to auto-cbet for no good reason.

I agree with you on multiway pots. On HU pots, there's a big chance that the villain missed it. Checking PT3 again tells me that any position and pretty much any hand is profitable if I cbet HU.

That depends on what is my plan for the hand. Much easier IP and HU I admit but I usually just keep firing if I have at least top pair or a big draw. If I don't I won't fire and fold if I think I'm behind. My cbet drops to half on later streets.

I avoid c-betting with air against multiple opponents. Multi-way pots mean c-bets are more expensive and less effective, especially on drawy boards.

On low boards they seem less effective.

On paired boards when you c-bet most people assume you don't have the trips and seem to float more often.

Against calling stations don't bother unless you hit.

Yeah unless a really weird flop comes (3 straight or flush cards 3 of the same card, something like that) I usually C bet 80 to 85 % of the time if I raised preflop and am isolated.

1) A few months ago I read in another thread here on CC that I should always c-bet OOP on the micros, and I have been doing so ever since.
But I felt I had been losing a lot of money with that, and just today, before reading this thread, I decided to stop doing it. At 2NL they will call with anything and they will retain position. So i agree whole-heartedly with you, and thanks for the heads-up.

2) On the cash forum I learned a few days ago that punishing open-limpers when you're in position works on 2NL. Since then I have been raising and then c-betting every limper I can find and it seems to work really great!

3) I never c-bet a multiway pot (on 2NL).

Edit: ^^ this all refers to the c-bet bluff ofcourse, as most of this thread.