What Is a C-Bet in Poker?

A c-bet, short for continuation bet, is a bet made on the flop by the player who raised before it. The name describes the story: you raised to claim the stronger range, and betting again continues that claim once three cards land. It is the most common bet in poker and, fired blindly, one of the most expensive habits an otherwise solid player can carry.

Why the raiser gets to bet

Aggression does not earn a c-bet — range advantage does. When you open and one player calls, you keep every AA, KK and AK in the deck while they folded most of theirs, so on a board of high cards your range beats theirs hand for hand.

That edge is created before the flop, which is why the solver-built preflop charts you open with decide how many flops you are allowed to bet at all. Open too wide and the advantage you are betting on does not exist.

How it plays out

You raise to $5 from the CO in a $1/$2 game with A♠K♣ and only the big blind calls. The pot is $11 and the flop comes A♦7♥3♣ — close to the best board you could ask for. You hold nearly every strong ace, they hold almost none, and nothing on the board wants to draw.

Bet $3.50, a third of the pot. As a pure bluff that price only needs to work bet divided by pot-plus-bet, about 24% of the time, and here you are not even bluffing. Almost your entire range can fire, because the board misses your opponent's calling range far more often than it misses yours.

Now change one card. On 9♥8♥7♣ that same A♠K♣ has no pair and no draw against a caller stuffed with suited connectors and pocket pairs. The bet stops being a continuation of anything and becomes a donation.

Sizing by texture

Flop	Typical c-bet	Reason
A♦7♥3♣ dry	Small, roughly a third of the pot	Huge range edge, no draws to charge
K♠Q♦7♠ two-tone	Around half to two-thirds, selectively	Both ranges connect; draws must pay
9♥8♥7♣ wet	Check most of the time	The caller's range hits harder than yours

The pattern is consistent: bet small and often on boards that favour your whole range, bet larger and less often on boards that split it, and give up the lead entirely on boards that belong to the caller.

When to check back

Checking is not weakness, and against decent opponents it is half of a working strategy. Check back when:

• The board is low and connected. Ranges like 6♠5♠ and 77 live in the caller's range and not in your opening range.
• You are out of position with a marginal hand. Betting bloats a pot you will be forced to guess in on later streets.
• Your opponent never folds. Fold equity is the point of a bluff c-bet; without it you are betting to be called by better.
• Your hand wants a cheap showdown. A♥J♣ on J♠8♠4♦ against a check-raiser is often worth one street, not three.

The leak to watch is the automatic 100% c-bet, which good players punish by raising relentlessly on the boards you cannot defend. Betting 70% of dry flops and 30% of wet ones will win you more than betting everything, and it costs nothing to start.