
3 Profit-Creating Tips for Delayed C-Betting (via Lucid Poker)
When solvers first erupted onto the scene, they showed us that the optimal c-betting strategy is generally aggressive.
Because of this, delayed c-betting became less of a concern for studying. However, this aspect of the game should still be studied if you want to be the best player at your table.
In this article, I will give you 3 tips for delayed c-betting that will help you make fewer mistakes and win more money against your opponents.
These tips will all be for when playing in position as the preflop raiser (in single-raised pots).
Let’s dive in!
Note: This is a somewhat advanced dive into delayed c-betting. If you need something more introductory, check out What is Delayed C-Betting & When Should You Do It?
Tip #1: Don’t Forget to Bluff With Trash
This is one of the most common mistakes I see players make.
They get to the turn with a trashy hand, their opponent shows weakness by checking for a second time, and they just check back.
For example…
You raise from the Button and the Big Blind calls. The flop comes Jd 9d 3c. The flop checks through and you face a check on the 8s turn.
What would you do with trashy hands like Kh 5h, Qs 4s, and Ah 6c?
Many players would simply check and see a free river. But the solver disagrees with that move.
Let’s look through some screenshots from Lucid Poker to show you what an optimal strategy looks like in this spot.
Here’s how the solver plays its full range:
Button’s delay c-bet range on Jd 9d 3c 8s. Notice the high bet frequencies with those trashy hands in the top right of the grid (red box).
Now take a look at how the Solver plays the trashy hands I asked about above:
King-Five suited:
Queen-Four suited:
Ace-Six offsuit:
The three hands that I mentioned, which are basically trash — granted, the Queen-Four has a gutshot — are all betting quite frequently.
And the solver assumes the opponent would have protected their checking range with some decent hands. Your human opponents will oftentimes not be smart enough to do that, which makes betting with these trashy hands even better.
Additionally, this helps you get to the river with a stronger range when you do check back on the turn. If you review your own stats, you might notice that you fold extremely frequently on the river after checking back twice.
That’s because your check back twice range is filled with too much trash (which of course you should fold). But if you bet with some of that trash on the turn, you get to the river with a stronger and more competitive range. It’s a win-win.
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Tip #2: Consider Betting For Thin Value When You Have A Vulnerable Middle Pair
Hand vulnerability is an important concept in poker. It comes up frequently on both the flop and the turn.
There are a couple of factors to take into account to be certain that it is the right spot to make a thin value bet:
- The more equity a hand has, the more often you want to bet
- Bet more often with pairs that are vulnerable* against overcards
- The more draws that have completed, the less you want to bet for thin value
*The lower the pair, the more vulnerable it is.
Here is a good study case:
You raise on the Button and the Big Blind calls. The flop comes Kd 7d 5c. You check back and the turn is the 4h. The Big Blind checks again and it’s up to you.
This is how the optimal strategy (once again from Lucid Poker) looks in this spot. I’ve filtered this to show only the underpairs, second pairs, and third pairs:
By focusing on the pocket pairs on this King-high board, we can see the second factor (“bet more often with vulnerable pairs”) in action.
- The least vulnerable pocket pairs (Pocket Queens through Pocket Tens) are always checking back.
- The more vulnerable pocket pairs (Pocket Nines, Pocket Eights, and Pocket Sixes) are betting at a high frequency.
The lower the hand, the more vulnerable it is, giving you more incentive to bet to protect its equity.
In this scenario, the solver also bets with even lower pairs (5x and 4x with diamonds). This is because very few draws have completed in Big Blind’s range, making in more likely those pitiful pairs are actually the best hand right now.
The bet doesn’t have to be big because a small bet achieves the main goal: forcing folds from nothing hands that have 1 or 2 overcards to your pair.
Betting too large will result in losing extra against the better hands, missing out on some value from weaker hands, and not getting enough fold equity in return.
Tip #3: Check Back Some Top Pairs to Protect Your River Range
This one is also going to impact your fold frequency after you check-back twice.
Checking back twice with a top pair might not seem like a good strategy. On its face, it might seem too passive, like you’re missing out on value.
But if you consider how money is made in poker, it can make a lot of sense. Hear me out!
With a hand like top pair, you can make money either by betting and getting called by worse or by checking and letting your opponent bet or bluff with worse.
Always betting with top pairs leads to some imbalances in your range that can be exploited. For example, if you have too few top pairs in your range after checking back twice, your opponent can start betting much thinner for value, use a larger size, and bluff you more often. You simply won’t have the range to do anything about it!
Keep in Mind: You Can Counter Unreasonable Strategies with Unreasonable Strategies
I mentioned imbalances that can be exploited in this article, but I always feel compelled to include this caveat.
You don’t have to play balanced against an imbalanced strategy. If you have an accurate read on how your opponents play, you can be imbalanced yourself to maximize your winnings.
The solver plays in such a way that it makes the vast majority of hands indifferent between decisions. But, if your opponent doesn’t play in that exact way, then the hands are no longer indifferent between the options.
Suppose Option A has an expected value (EV) of 2 chips. Option B also has an EV of 2 chips. For simplicity, let’s assume that the solver will split 50/50 between the actions, with an average EV for the hand being 2.
In practice, based on how your opponents play, Option A might actually have an EV of 1.5 while Option B has an EV of 2.5. If you keep the same split of 50/50 between actions, you are not losing anything relative to the GTO strategy. The overall EV of the hand will be (1.5 * 0.5) + (2.5 * 0.5) = 2 chips.
However, a higher EV strategy is available. If you take Option B 100% of the time, the overall EV of the hand becomes (1.5 * 0) + (2.5 * 1) = 2.5 chips.
This “100% Option B) strategy outperforms the GTO strategy by a significant margin (25%).
Of course, there is a big potential downside to this. If your read on a situation is wrong and you, say, choose Option A 100% of the time, then you end up with a strategy that underperforms by 25% compared the GTO strategy.
In short, you can and should adjust when you know how your opponents play. But be careful not to make big adjustments unless you have reliable information.
Final Thoughts
Delayed c-betting can be a strong weapon. Armed with these tips, you’re ready to make more money by delayed c-betting in the right situations.
I hope you enjoyed the article and that you learned something new from it! I enjoyed writing it and I am looking forward to hearing your opinions in the comment section down below.
If you want more free poker tips like this, check out 3 Tips For Playing Paired Boards (via Lucid Poker).
Till’ next time, good luck, grinders!
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