Blind Steal gets called, continuation bet?

[AceofSpades]

I have difficulty knowing when to continuation bet after a blind steal gets called. Say you raise to 3x BB in LP the SB folds, and BB calls. What flops are you continuation betting and which flops are you not? What factors do you consider when betting?

First factor I consider is the fact that most flops miss most hands. That's a strong argument for betting. Image and stack sizes are probably next most important. How often have you been raising, especially opening from LP? How often have you done it to this guy's blind? How often have other people been stealing his blind? Have you seen him trap with a big hand before? Have you seen him re-raise before? How often does he call pre-flop raises? Is he capable of laying down a small pair to a flop bet? Does he have enough chips to call a continuation bet with impunity? Do you have enough to make one with impunity? The cards on the flop are usually the least of my concerns- a scary flop to you is a scary flop to him, too.

[AtticusFinch]

[ QUOTE ]
First factor I consider is the fact that most flops miss most hands. That's a strong argument for betting. Image and stack sizes are probably next most important. How often have you been raising, especially opening from LP? How often have you done it to this guy's blind? How often have other people been stealing his blind? Have you seen him trap with a big hand before? Have you seen him re-raise before? How often does he call pre-flop raises? Is he capable of laying down a small pair to a flop bet? Does he have enough chips to call a continuation bet with impunity? Do you have enough to make one with impunity? The cards on the flop are usually the least of my concerns- a scary flop to you is a scary flop to him, too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Also consider if you've ever seen him check-raise. Lots of tourney players check-raise any time they have a hand. There are some that are so bad about this that if they lead out, I raise with any two.

[Sam T.]

Assuming you bet around 1/2 the pot, continuation bets only have to work 50% of the time to be worth it in the long run. It hurts when they get snapped off, but if you aren't making the continuation bet most of the time you are leaving a lot of chips on the table.