The c-bet is the most powerful bluff in poker. Your opponent shows strength by raising pre-flop, and then they continue to show strength by betting ½ to 2/3 of the pot on the flop. Your opponents will c-bet anywhere between 80 to 100% of the time, but they’ll usually only hit about 30% of the time. You’ve got to play back at them occasionally to prevent them from c-betting every flop against you and to disguise your hand when you really did hit the flop hard.
But defending against the c-bet can be tricky and if you do it wrong you can waste a lot of chips. Here’s what you should be thinking about when deciding whether or not you should defend against a c-bet.
What Is Your Opponent’s Range
Before you defend against a C-bet, you have to determine whether or not your opponent’s bet is a c-bet or a value bet. In order to do that, you have to put your opponent on a range.
What Kind of Opponent are you Facing?
Know thy enemy.
Let’s say your opponent raised from middle position early in a Sit ‘N Go and had stats like 16/14 over 250 hands. Obviously this opponent is very tight. Additionally, correct SNG strategy demands tight play in the early stages, so your opponent’s range is probably AQs+, AK+ and 99+.
However, an opponent with stats like 45/33 over 250 hands is much looser and will probably be on a range like A8s+, AT+, 55+ as well as many suited connectors JTs+ and maybe any two face cards.
Obviously it’s easier to defend against someone with a narrower range than it is to defend against someone with a wide range.
What Was Your Opponent’s Position?
All players will play a wider range as they get closer to the button. For example, our 16/14 player will usually only raise AK+, TT+ under the gun, but will probably raise JTs, QJ+, KT+, A2s+ A8+, 22+ on the button. Position makes a BIG difference.
How Likely is it That the Flop Hit Him?
Let’s say your opponent was tight and raised from middle position and you called in late position with pocket tens. The flop comes A83 rainbow. Your opponent makes a standard continuation bet. Should you defend?
No, probably not. Aces make up a large portion of your opponent’s range and there’s a good chance you’re behind. But what if the flop came J83 and your opponent bets. Should you defend now?
Yes. That isn’t likely to have helped your opponent and the only hands you fear are JJ+. Check out my article on combinatorial analysis if you want to learn more about figuring out how likely your opponent is to have certain hands.
What Would Your Opponent Put You On?
When you defend against a c-bet, you want your opponent to go away, but they’re not likely to do that unless you can credibly represent a solid hand. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about.
Your opponent is tight-aggressive and raises from middle position. You call on the button with AQs which is marginal, but you think you can take the pot away from him a lot of the time.
The flop comes 493 with two hearts on the board and your opponent makes a standard c-bet. You call.
Oops. Your heart (no pun intended) was in the right place. You know that flop is unlikely to hit your opponent, but your call is likely to induce a double barrel bluff because it looks like you’re on a flush draw. You should have raised to represent a pocket pair above 99. If you’re opponent doesn’t have a pocket pair or the flush draw with overs, they’ll go away quietly.
Always be aware of what you’re representing when you act and remember that when you call a raise in position, your opponent will assume you’re at the top of your range since the gap concept should apply. It will be hard for them to play back at you unless they have a rock-solid hand.
Is Your Opponent Really Thinking About All This?
Maybe. You have to know your opponent before you make a move. Tight-aggressive opponents are much more likely to be thinking opponents than loose-passive ones. If you’re opponent isn’t thinking about the game, you shouldn’t defend against his c-bets since he’s likely to call you with terrible hands (that will unfortunately beat you).
How Should You Defend?
There are two ways to defend against a c-bet: Call and Raise.
Calling
Calling works best against tight opponents that aren’t too aggressive. They’ll probably fire one barrel and give up on the turn. Float them on the flop and take it away if they check to you on the turn. Don’t take this line too often because tricky opponents will use the rope-a-dope on you. They’ll c-bet with a solid hand then check the turn to feign weakness. When you bet the turn they’ll either check/raise you or try to get you to bet again on the river.
You also have to look at the texture of the board to see what your call represents. If the board is K75, your call looks like a king trying to extract more money but if the board is JT8 with two diamonds, your call looks like a draw and will probably elicit another barrel if the turn bricks.
Raising
Raising works best when it looks like your opponent totally missed the board and/or the board looks drawy. For example, your tight opponent raised pre-flop and you call. The flop comes 258 with two hearts on the board. Your opponent bets and you raise. Now it looks like you have an overpair and are trying to protect it.
Final Words
Overall, you should still fold to c-bets the majority of the time. Your opponents will start to exploit you if you float/raise every c-bet. I’d say you can defend about 20% of the time when conditions are favorable. That should be enough to scare your opponents and disguise your value raises.
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