Your game on the flop is closely connected with how you play on the pre-flop. Often, if you raise to get into the game, it means you have to continue the attack on the flop. When you raise on the pre-flop, you are letting your opponents know that your cards are rather strong. Try to win the pot on the flop even if you don’t have winning cards. If you stop attacking on the flop because your cards aren’t great, it will be obvious to your opponents. The bet on the flop after the pre-flop raise is called a continuation bet or a cont bet. The size of this bet should not differ from the size of the bet when the flop suits you. If you follow this rule, it is more difficult for your contenders to find out if you are bluffing or not. The size of this bet should be between 2/3 of the pot up to the pot size.

When is the best time to make a continuation bet? If you are in a position against one opponent and he checks on the flop, you should always make a cont bet. The only exception is if your opponent is a calling station (Calling Station: a player who constantly calls on the flop with any pair or even without a pair).

Always continue the attack against one opponent if you are in a bad position and the flop is not risky. A flop which is considered to be less risky is one that doesn’t offer a large number of possible unfinished combinations. For instance: flop 8-9s-Ts, doesn’t call for a cont bet if, of course, you don’t have a strong draw already. Before making a cont bet, look at the flop structure carefully. If the flop doesn’t suit you but may suit your contender, who usually calls your raises with a particular range of hands, you shouldn’t make a cont bet. Instead, you should play check-fold. For instance: you have 99, the flop is A-J-Q. You know that your contender calls raises if he has high cards.

Do not continue the attack on the flop when two or more contenders have called your pre-flop raise and the flop has not brought you anything. Let’s discuss the reason for this move. After two or more contenders have called your raise, the pot has become bigger. You need to make a continuation bet of a considerably bigger size now. The profitability of your bet has decreased two fold (the possibility of both opponents folding is two times lower). The only time you should make a cont bet against two opponents is if the flop is not incredibly risky and you’re in a good position. For instance: the flop is 3-4-4, the both contenders have checked before you. It is important to note that you may reduce the size of your bet up to half the pot when there is a pair on the board.

Premium hands AA and KK:

There are two different situations in which you will play hands like these.

Raised pot:

If you have raised on the pre-flop and somebody has called your raise, you should play aggressively but carefully on the post-flop. Continue your attack with a bet of the pot size on any flop. The only exception is if you have KK, there is an ace on the flop and you have more than one opponent. You should only make a cont bet from a good position. If not, play check-fold. If there is a rainbow of low range cards on the flop, be careful when tight players call your bet. If you don’t know your contender’s style of play and he makes a re-raise, the best idea is to fold. You should bet the whole stack on the flop if you play against risk takers or short-stackers (up to 70BB). Re-raised pot.