Check or C-Bet flop?

[Joe]

Hi Everyone,

I've noticed in the past that Pro's seem to check the flop far more often than they C-Bet...

Even, or possibly especially, when they've hit.

My question is how you decide whether to C-bet or check when you hit the flop..

Obviously, you don't want to be doing the same thing all the time...

But, for example..

You have AKo and flop top pair on a king high flop...

What factors do you consider when deciding whether to continuation or check?

Do you make this decision based on board texture & number of opponents or is it something that you have to just mix up?

Or how aggressive the table is perhaps?

Is checking here always pot control or are you sometimes doing this to induce?

If they lead, how do you decide whether to flat or raise?

Is top-top too venerable to flat call the flop when we check and our opponent bets?

That's a few questions rolled into one to give you an idea of what exactly I'd appreciate your opinions on..

Answer as many (or few) of the 'sub-questions' as you like or just the general topic as a whole if you prefer.

Thanks for your time reading and/or replying!

<3

 

[fundiver199]

C-betting is a complicated topic. In the early days of online poker people used to call way to much preflop and play to fit-or-fold on the flop, and this made C-betting hugely profitable. Presumably there might have been a similar dynamic in live games, because a player like Berry Greenstein used to have almost a 100% C-bet on the flop. As players get better and more balanced you can not blindly C-bet every single time, but you should probably still be C-betting more than 50% of the time. It will depend also on board texture, number of players and your position.

Solvers and AI programs can give an idea about, when its best to C-bet, and when its best to not C-bet. I used PokerSnowie for a year, and one of the things, I noticed, is, that the program often suggested to not C-bet top pair. I guess, this is because, top pair tend to perform better as a bluff catcher against someone, who is playing well and using a balanced strategy. If your are playing in soft games, that will be very different though, because people will tend to call way to much and not bluff very often. So if you check top pair, you are just giving them a free card to potentially draw out on you.