The Delayed C-Bet in Poker

If you raise pre-flop and then follow up that action with a bet on the flop, it is known as a continuation bet (or c-bet). If you raise pre flop, check the flop, and then bet on the turn, it is known as a delayed c-bet.

A long time ago, in a land far, far away, there used to be a bunch of road gamblers who would only make a continuation bet in Omaha Poker when they had an extremely strong hand. 

Then, one day, a very wise cowboy realised this fact and started to make flop bets as a bluff. His opponents kept folding and the cowboy won more and more pots without any type of hand.

Press your finger down on the Betamax of life and things have changed – dramatically. These days everyone c-bets, and with a much higher regularity than they ever check. The corollary being that nobody ever believes that the c-bet is anything other than a bluff. 

This allows players to call one street with air and then bet on fourth-street once checked too. This motion is known as floating. 

The vogue way of dealing with floating is to check the flop and then bet the turn. It gives off the impression that you hit the flop hard are trying to be deceptive by checking. 

Given the high percentage of c-betting that goes on, this line is now becoming much more believable than the flop c-bet. 

So, if you find yourself in poker tournaments where players are not folding to your c-bets, then check the flop and go for the delayed c-bet on the turn instead.