Three Questions To Ask Yourself Before Firing The First Bullet

One of the first pieces of advice I give when coaching recreational poker players is to ask more questions. Too often when we’re starting out in poker, or have been playing for a while but haven’t spent time thinking about the game at a meaningful level, we take actions on default.

This lack of analysis is often clearest when asking players two relatively simple questions: why did you make a continuation bet (cbet) and why did you choose the betting size that you did? After listening to the responses that follow, I instruct my students to forget everything they think they know about cbetting and begin asking themselves the following three questions:

1. Who has the range advantage?

When it comes to cbetting strategy, “range advantage” simply means whose hand does the flop (or turn, or river) most likely connect with. Assessing the answer to “who has the range advantage?” before cbetting is crucial because it dictates who can credibly represent strength and apply pressure.

Take for example a flop like 224 rainbow. As the preflop raiser against a small blind caller, you have the range advantage since your range (the total collection of hands you can have in any particular spot) includes all the high pairs (AA, KK, QQ), while your opponent’s range does not (since they likely would have 3-bet them preflop).

Compare that to a flop of 4s5s6d against a big blind caller. On this board, the range advantage is skewed much more heavily towards your opponent’s range since it includes more suited connectors, small pocket pairs and low denomination cards, while your preflop raising range is full of Ax and broadway type hands. Note too that even if your opponent completely whiffed such a flop, an aggressive player could make your life extremely difficult knowing that even a hand as strong as AA is going to have a tough time playing against multi-street aggression on this type of board.

2. What bet size best accomplishes what I need it to?

Once you’ve determined who has the range advantage, the next question to ask yourself is “what bet size best accomplishes what I need it to?” That’s because the size of your continuation bet should strategically manipulate your opponent’s decisions based on both the board texture and your goals for the hand.

On a dynamic board where there are plenty of draws and many turn cards that could change who holds the range advantage, you might choose to increase your c-bet size to 3/4 pot, or even more. The larger bet will charge your opponent’s draws a premium, maximize value with your strongest hands, and add pressure with your semi-bluffs.

However, on a static board like A49 rainbow, you might choose to bet much smaller—maybe just a quarter pot—since you have a huge range advantage and there are far fewer draws or ways for the board to change on later streets. The smaller bet size allows you to extract value from the weaker parts of your opponent’s range while keeping your bluffs affordable.

As you can see, the point of question #2 is to align your bet size with your strategy for the hand. Once you’ve figured out the right size for your bet, it’s time to factor in one final question.

3. How aggressive has my opponent shown themselves to be?

It’s true that you won’t always have enough information to answer this question accurately, but when you do, it’s critical to consider your opponent’s playing style. Have you seen them taking aggressive actions such as 3-betting, check-raising, or triple-barrelling? Do you have a reason to think they’ll do your betting for you on the turn if you check back the flop? Are they a drunk whale willing to call down with nothing but third pair and a dream? Understanding your opponent’s tendencies can make or break your decision to c-bet, so don’t forget to consider not just your own hand and the board, but your opponent too!

Implementation

If any of these questions are new to your hand-analysis process, I recommend spending some “off-the-table” time analyzing recent pots in which you were the preflop aggressor by going through this three-question progression. Over time, you’re likely to find the process taking place in real time in-game, making you a much more well-rounded and formidable opponent.

Good luck!