Tip #18: Continuation Bets Tips for SNGs

Continuation bets are crucial in all types of poker games. It’s an area where the best poker players make most their money; and where the worst players lose most of theirs.

The principles involved in a continuation bet are simple. With respect to maths, each opponent starting a game with an unpaired hand will miss the flop 65% of the time. This means if you raised the stakes preflop (3-4BB on average), the chances are the remaining players in the pot won’t have hit anything when the flop comes down. This means even if you missed the flop, you can make a continuation bet feigning a strong hand and you’ll take the pot down there most of the time. The recommended continuation bet acting in first position is around half the pot – notably this only has to work 1/3 of the time in order to break even.

Tips for Continuation Betting

Continuation bets work best against fewer opponents. I’d strongly recommend continuation betting only if there are two or less players in the hand. Anymore than this and the chances are your opponents will have hit something on the flop. Even if they haven’t top pair, they’re still likely to call your continuation bet if for pot value.

Continuation Bets Don’t Work Well on Drawing Flops. The problem with continuation betting on dangerous drawing flops such as J910 is that you’re opponents can call with a wide range of hands. The problem here is that you still don’t know whether you’re behind or ahead after being called. Another problem for Cbetting here is that you’re much more likely to get called for pot value. There will be more outs for your opponent to call to, so a normal cbet raise of half the pot isn’t likely to win you many hands on the spot.

Don’t Make Your Cbets Obvious. Any half decent player will be able to tell when you’re continuation betting for value. Once this happens, your continuation bets will lose their value, and you’ll find yourself open to re-raises and losing money. The Cbet should be maximized, not over-used.

Continuation Betting in SNGs is Very Important. Poker tournaments require a much more aggressive mentality than cash games. As such, you’ll find a high amount of cbetting occurring in SNGs. In MTT strategy the Cbet should be used much more than in cash games. The gains from it tend to be higher than cash games because of the size of the blinds in tournaments – and the value placed on blind stealing.

Fold to the Better Hand. Remember that continuation bets are a means of stealing the pot right there. Don’t let yourself be dragged into a pot with a hand you know won’t win at showdown. Be ready to fold your hand if you think your opponent has something better.