Follow up bets

[Dan Mezick]

JeanneJ,

There is not enough information to answer. Provide some example flops.

For example if the board looks like a str8 or flush you can bet 1/4 pot and that looks like an invitation-- suspicious-- and you can take it down with 1/4 if the opponent is a decent player who missed. So here your husband's assertion holds.

Paired boards are another decent example. If you can be first in to bet at a paired-board rainbow flop with 3 or less opponents in the pot, with a trash hand, you can often bet 1/2 which looks like a come-on-in, Ive-got-trips raise. Suspicious again. Decent player that missed cannot call.

Note that both plays are more effective with position. In your example you are last to act in a 2-way pot and its is implied in your example that SB has checked.

In my opinion, a standard continuation bet should be about 1/2 to 2/3 of the pot and that should not change based on the value of your hand, but rather the texture of the flop and how many draws are possible. There are rarely times that I see a pot sized bet as necessary.

Greg Raymer had always said that the best bet to pickup the pot in this situation is the absolute least amount that will get your opponent to fold.