Hey, gang! In just a week, I’ll be in Las Vegas, making myself at home at the Flamingo with my RECing Crew roommate Eric Gin. By then, I’ll have taken my shot at the last Day 1 of the $1,100 WPT Prime and probably spent the rest of my time (and dignity) searching for someone—anyone!—who can hook me up with a Golden Passport into the $5M freeroll!
Assuming I survive the appetizers, though, it’s all about the main course: the WPT $10,400 World Championship.
Since the summer, I’ve been getting coaching from Matt Affleck, and one thing he constantly preaches is focusing on high-frequency scenarios—because these spots come up the most often and mastering them will have the biggest impact. I promised you all some strategy nuggets this week, so let’s dive into one of the most common situations: continuation-betting on the flop and facing those c-bets.
Early Position Opens vs the Big Blind
We’ve already talked about how you should be continuation-betting more often on ten-high or higher boards when you open from early position and get called by the big blind. But there are some nuanced exceptions that you should be aware of. I’m keeping it simple for real-time application, so I’ll generalize Matt’s lessons here. If there are any errors, they’re mine!
Here are some key situations where you should c-bet less frequently:
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T-9-8 or T-8-7 Boards – These flops have more straight combos available, so you should c-bet less often. Instead, on boards like T-8-4 or T-6-2 (with fewer made straight combos), feel free to bet more frequently, especially as stacks get deeper.
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Monotone Flops – Monotone boards (all cards of the same suit) should often be c-bet, but avoid c-betting ace-high monotone boards. Most of your early position hands will have the ace, making it harder for your opponent to fold better hands.
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Ace-High Wheel Boards – Flops like A-5-3 or A-4-2 should prompt a less frequent c-bet because the big blind player will often have more sets and straight draws. They can also check-raise more frequently in these spots.
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A-K-X Boards – On boards like A-K-X, your Kx hands don’t need protection and often don’t benefit from a bet. These hands should sometimes just check back.
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Paired Aces on the Board – On boards like A-8-8 or A-6-6, the big blind will have more trips in their range. Your value hands also don’t need protection as much on these boards, so you should c-bet less.
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Nut Flush Draw on a 2-tone Board – When you have a nut flush draw, c-bet less with A-K suited and more with lower Ax suited hands. Your lower suited hands not only get better ace-high hands to fold, but you also don’t block your opponent from holding the king-high flush draw—making your ace-high flush more valuable if you hit it.
The View from the Other Side
What happens when you’re in the blinds, facing a c-bet? Here are a few advanced tips from Matt on how to handle the situation:
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Don’t Donk-bet – Check-raise Instead: If you’re going to be aggressive, avoid donk-betting; check-raise instead. Start with hands like:
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Flush draws
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Straight draws
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‘3×3 hands’ (hands with no front-door draws but 3 cards to a straight and 3 cards to a flush, ideally with a high card in the flush draw suit, and an overcard to the board).
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Facing a Small Bet on Rainbow Flops: On rainbow flops, you might struggle to find enough hands to call with in order to meet the Minimum Defense Frequency (MDF). If you use a solver, you’ll notice many weak hands actually have to call small bets to avoid being exploited.
For 2-tone flops, you don’t need to be a hero. There are so many suited combos in your range that you can fold many of your worst off-suit hands and still be in good shape.
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Avoid Backdoor Suit Combinations: On 2-tone flops with a small c-bet, continue with hands that don’t have a card of the backdoor suit in your hand. Why? Because many of your opponent’s bluffs will be backdoor draws, and having one of those backdoor suit cards in your hand makes it less likely they’re bluffing.
