Choose the right time for Continuation Betting

Continuation betting has become so common in No-Limit Hold 'em tournaments that many players no longer give it any respect. They will often call your bet on the flop, whether or not they actually have anything, just to see what you'll do on the turn. Because continuation bets have lost so much value, you should be wary of making this bet if you don't have much of a hand, and, even if you do have a hand, you should occasionally check behind just to mix up your play.

When deciding whether or not you should follow up a preflop raise with a bet on the flop, you should consider a variety of factors, including the texture of the flop, the number of players involved in the hand and the tendencies of those players, but here I want to talk about how your use of the continuation bet needs to change as a tournament progresses.

In the early stages of a tournament, you should be much more willing to make a continuation bet on the flop because you generally won't be risking as high a percentage of your chip stack as you will in later rounds. Losing an extra 80 chips when the blinds are 10/20 and you have 3,000 isn't going to hurt you all that much. You should be especially willing to make this bet after flopping a set or top two pair because in these situations you really want to build a pot.

However, if you flop a medium-strength hand like top pair with an average kicker you need to employ much more caution. Let's say you raise before the flop with J-10 suited, and the flop comes J-7-3. If your opponent checks to you, you should also check. You don't want to build a big pot in this situation because your opponent could easily have K-J or Q-J, just the sort of hands weaker players like to play early on in tournaments.

Checking behind your opponent will also disguise the strength of your hand, allowing you to extract value from it on later streets. If your opponent has a medium pocket pair like 6s or 10s and you check behind on a J-7-3 flop, you're more likely to get a call out of him if you bet the turn and, if a scare card hits the board, you can simply check behind once again.

Another advantage of checking behind your opponent after flopping top pair is that in the future it will allow you to check behind on flops that don't connect with your hand without giving away the fact that you're weak. Doing this will also keep the pot small enough that you won't feel committed to it if your opponent plays back at you on the turn.

If you do make a continuation bet on the flop in this situation and your opponent check-raises you...

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TOURNEY RECAPS

August 23 and 31 tournament reports

The August 23rd tourney was held at Full Tilt. The final table consisted of: xxHABSxx, TsgtRet, Jdboogie, JamminGears, franken222, BLEHURAY, jajatras1, Scie and sydney john. The order of finish is as follows: xxHABSxx, sydney john, jajatras1, TsgtRet, JammnGears, franken222, BLEHURAY, Scie and Jdboogie. The final heads-up hand was A9s versus 55 to give xxHABSxx the win.

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September 7, 12 and 15 tournament reports

The final table consisted of: oryxbull, tijgerman53, Pokrchip, Precious T, handsimetom, maestral, mrdage, MAJIK1969 and C152Kofi. The order of finish is as follows: C152kofi, maestral, Precious T, handsometom, MAJIK1969, Pokrchip, tijgerman, medage and oryxbull. The final heads-up hand was AA versus A9o to give C152Kofi the win.

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September 20 and 22 tournament reports

Another great tournament played at Full Tilt. The final table consisted of: synful 69, idobelieve7, i see green, jomama99, buckrubber, togene, BJWilkins, TsgtRet, and xxxHABSxx. The order of finish is as follows: i see green, TsgtRet, togene, idobelieve7, XXHABSxx, BJWilkins, jomama99, buckrubber, and synful 69. The final heads-up hand was TT versus 44 to give i see green the win...

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How to Bluff Against a Solid Player

When trying to steal pots in No-Limit Hold'em, you have to ask yourself questions like: "How likely is it that my opponent has a hand?" and "Does my bet (bluff) make sense in the context of the way the hand played out?"

Asking these questions is important. Answering them accurately is critical.

A recent example of a bluff and counter-bluff came up at the $5K No-Limit Hold'em event at the World Series of Poker. I was down to the final two tables and had 6-2 off-suit in the big blind. The small blind called and I checked. The flop came down J-T-6 with two diamonds. My opponent checked and I thought, "I'll take one shot at this." I had a pair and position, and I was going to try to take the pot right there. When my opponent called, I pretty much gave up on the pot.

The next card came a diamond, making a possible flush, and my opponent checked again. I also checked, giving him a pretty good idea that I didn't have the flush. The river card was a blank and he came out betting.

I knew I didn't have a hand, but my read made me pretty sure he didn't have one either. I didn't think he'd hit a flush, and I knew I could make it look like I was trapping on the turn with a flush myself so, after he bet $16,000, I raised to $50,000. After about a minute, he let go of the hand.

Now, let's take another look at the action here. When my opponent checked the flop, I saw the opportunity to make a play and tried to steal the pot. He obviously called with some kind of hand. We both checked the turn when the possible flush came and he led out after the river brought no obvious help to either of us. He could have been trying to trap me with the flush, but I just didn't read it that way. When he tried to steal the pot, I couldn't just call even though he almost surely had my 6 beat. Still, I was pretty sure I could make him lay down his hand with a raise.

For these types of plays to be successful..

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