Continuation betting is a topic in poker that gets a lot of attention. Almost every poker player knows what continuation betting is, but very few really understand the dynamics of proper c-bets. C-betting is often times made unnecessarily complicated, when in reality it is a very simple concept. A continuation bet is a bet that will be made on the flop in an effort to continue with aggression that you had shown pre flop.
Your pre flop aggression will have come in the form of a raise or a re raise. You can’t make a continuation bet on the flop when you simply made a call pre flop because you wouldn’t be continuing anything. There is a big difference between continuing with your aggression and starting with your aggression. If you were the aggressor pre flop, it will mean that you now have the upper hand when you head to the flop. Your opponents will naturally assume that you have a relatively strong hand, otherwise they wouldn’t have expected you to make a pre flop raise. Since your opponents think you are holding a strong hand, you will be able to exploit your image. It is unimportant that you don’t actually have a strong hand, all that matters is that your opponents are scared enough that they will talk themselves into a fold. There will be times where your pre flop raise isn’t going to always mean that you should be making a flop continuation bet, however. It is important to understand that some flops are meant for passive play, no matter how aggressive you were pre flop.
Quitting is something that poker players are hesitant to discuss, but it is something that could save you a lot of money. You will inevitably have sessions where everything is going wrong and nothing seems to go your way; it is learning to properly handle these situations that is important.
No one can ensure that every session they play runs smoothly, it just can’t be done, but every poker player has the ability to quit when it is clear that it is not their day. Some poker players will claim that there is no point in quitting because “they don’t tilt.” The truth is, however, that almost every single poker player in the world is prone to tilt. When you aren’t playing poker you might think to yourself that you can maintain a tilt free style of play, but once you run into a few tough hands everything is liable to change.
Heads up poker has become popular largely due to the fact that players can “have the fish all to themselves.” When you are playing in a ring game you will hope to get involved in bigger pots with the weaker players at your table, but you will inevitably get into confrontations with the stronger players as well.
There is nothing wrong with playing against solid players, in fact you could still have a significant edge, but it is much easier to beat up on your weaker opponents. When you play heads up poker you will have the opportunity to battle weak opponents one on one. Many poker players frown upon a tactic known as bum hunting, where players will only play heads up against particularly weak opponents, but that is a discussion for another day.
Pretend that you have already landed a weak player at a heads up table. Now is your chance to make what should be some easy money, but you won’t win if you don’t know how to capitalize on your opponent’s weaknesses. There are two ways that amateur heads up players tend to play, either over aggressively or too passively. Once you are able to identify how someone is playing, you will be able to combat your opponent in the most effective way possible. In the example below we will be facing an aggressive player who is generally incapable of any type of advanced moves.
Sometimes you confuse your opponent, sometimes your opponent confuses you, and sometimes you are both confused about everything. This hand would be the perfect example of a situation where everyone is confused, or at least it should appear that way.
The pre flop play is rather standard, the Hero completes in the small blind after one player limped into the pot. Pocket fours would definitely be worthy of an open raise if the other player hadn’t limped, but they did so we will commit an additional small blind in hopes of seeing a flop. The big blind decides to check back and we will indeed see the flop. From the outsider’s perspective, this hand should look like a bunch of trash vs. more trash, with the cutoff potentially having the best trash of the lot. In reality, however, it is exactly the opposite. The confusing pre flop action made it exceptionally difficult to play this entire hand, especially when we find ourselves holding a monster hand on the river.
Rush Poker is the new poker game available exclusively at Full Tilt Poker. Rush Poker abides by the same standard set of poker rules that everyone is used to, but it offers an exciting twist. As soon as players fold their hand they will be instantly moved to a new table where they receive two new cards. This eliminates the waiting between hands. What this also does is change the strategy that most players are used to.
Typically poker players are able to turn a profit based on, in part, the inability of other players to play patiently. It is easy to take advantage of players who force the issue when they don’t have to. Rush Poker makes it difficult to exploit other’s impatience as a new hand is always starting. Does this mean that there isn’t any type of optimal strategy for Rush Poker? Absolutely not, in fact Rush Poker strategy is incredibly simple to adhere to.
Sticking to the Basics
Online poker has certainly seen a jump in the average skill level over the past few years. Most players are going to end up losing, even if only a little, money if they simply apply an ABC poker strategy. With Rush Poker, however, an ABC poker strategy can be extremely successful. All that you will have to do is pick your spots and take advantage of players who overplay their mediocre holdings.
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