A Little R&R, Part 1

• One mistake that people make way too often is looking at the absolute strength of their hand rather than the relative strength versus their opponents' continuation range. An example would be c-betting 55 on J93r. The most common logic for c-betting is "I most likely have the best hand", but they fail to realize that when called, they usually only have two outs. This is especially true when playing OOP. If your opponent has as little as a gut-shot, he is likely to float you then take it away on the turn.
• Don't c-bet indiscriminately, especially when OOP. Whether you c-bet 80%, 60% or 40%, use the hands with the most equity or backdoor barreling potential.  
• Example: On flop of Jh9s3d
• 55 has ~8.8% versus Jx or 9x
• 56hh has ~10.7% versus Jx or 9x
• Although the equity difference seems small, over the long run it makes a significant difference. More important than the equity difference is the ability to turn backdoor draws with a hand like 56hh. The turned equity allows you to make more intelligent double barrels. Because of the increase pot equity, you need less fold equity and it can set up good triple barrel spots.

Continuation Betting In Position

• Against a fish, limp/call type
• Range assessment. You always want to be thinking about what kind of hands they are playing. This goes for all players, not just the fish.
• What are you attempting to accomplish?
• Checking back?
• How much equity can he realize?
• Can you induce bluffs or let him improve to a worse hand?
• WA/WB.
• An example would be 99 on J23r. This is a spot where your opponent often times only has 6 outs or less against you. You are either WA/WB and may be better off checking the flop to induce more action on the turn. The board texture is such that your opponent rarely has much of a hand. You are unlikely to get 3 streets of value but checking back could get you 2 streets of solid value.
• Betting?
• For value.
• Does he have decent equity?
• Will he fold better?
• Against a competent regular
• Things to remember:
• Calling range is stronger.
• Villain is reading hands.
• Less likely to randomly spew.
• Regulars aren't going to play draws out of position passively.
• These are generalizations; They are capable of adjusting to you.
• Always consider how you will react to a raise before it happens.
• How does this affect us?
• It becomes more difficult to c-bet medium equity-share hands because a good regular will raise us off the best hand more often or deny us the chance to realize our equity.
• More important to use your positional advantage.
• Take free cards
• Pot controlling
• Delayed c-bets

• When deciding on whether to double barrel or not, your perceived range, opponent's level of thinking and style of play are important considerations. There is some leveling involved and figuring out what level your opponent is thinking on is your job. On a dry board with a blank turn, some opponents might give you no credit since you represent a very narrow range and others may give you a lot of credit because they know you know the turn is not good for barreling. 
• Looking at stats like WTSD and W$SD might give me an idea of how likely they call down.
• Remove the random c-betting and double barreling from your range and choose to bet with hands that have the most equity or can turn a lot of equity. This will make your bets more calculated and effective. 
• When double and triple barreling, try to do so when there aren't a lot of obvious missed draws. You might get looked up lighter. Conversely, double and triple barreling for value on boards with missed draws might be very effective. 
• Have a plan!

Hand examples:

100NL FR - Folds to Hero in SB with 4s4c. Hero raises $3, BB (17/12/3bet % of 16) calls $3. Flop: Hero bets $4, BB calls $4. Turn: Hero bets $9.50, BB calls $9.50. River: Hero bets $30, BB calls $30. BB shows K3ss.

Board: Flop: AcKdQh ($6) Turn: 2d ($14) River: 8s ($30)

• The example above is of one where c-betting and barreling is probably not the best play. This is still somewhat villain dependent and against some that have a tendency to fold, it is OK. Hero's plan was to barrel this board because he felt that the BB rarely has a strong hand here given his high 3-bet %. On the flip side, 44 is on the bottom end of his c-bet and barrel range equity wise versus the villain's continuation range. Hero forced the c-bet and double/triple barrel when he could have done the same when he has more equity. 
• After seeing the Hero showdown 44, the villain can probably gather that the Hero is c-betting and barreling way too often. 44 is the bottom of his range equity-wise versus villain's continuation range.

1000NL FR - Folds to SB who raises to $30 with A5dd, Hero in BB calls $30 with A3hh. Flop: SB checks, Hero checks. Turn: SB checks, Hero checks. River: SB checks, Hero checks.

Board: Flop: Qs8d4c ($60) Turn: 9h ($30) River: 7c ($30)

• The player of focus of this hand is the SB. He should have c-bet on the flop because his hand had about 18% equity even against TP. He can turn a lot of backdoor equity with diamonds and gut-shots that will allow him to continue barreling. Although Ace high does have some showdown value, he will often fail to realize it against a good opponent.