Continuation Bets

[JeffreyGB]

The more I move up in stakes, the more I run in to situations wherein players are much more suspicious of continuation bets - calling (or even sometimes raising) with any two that they'd call with preflop if the board looks safe. Do you make any adjustments for that fact? I've been experimenting with mixing in a play of checking the flop and then treating the turn as a continuation bet, and that's met with some success, even though it seems like a pretty weak play to me.

In SnG/MTT play, when the blinds are high relative to your stack (let's say you have 15-20xBB and bet 3x preflop, leaving you with 12BB), how do you vary this? Push a blank flop? Do something like the check/bet line mentioned above, or something else entirely?

[vqc]

ill take a line i learned from this guy named JGB.
"Reads Help"

Im not a high stakes player
But

I just played a few headsup matches on stars and while playing, i ran into this guy who would call any flop bet. That means that my cbets wouldnt work! So I stopped cbetting completely and started making 4th st c-bets. Its a line that Negreanu uses and it works. Its just you have to have reads, otherwise if you check the flop in position, u give him an OK to lead the turn.

At the same time however, c-betting works! Before I raise to steal I make sure that if i decide to c-bet, my stack size after the cbet would be satisfactory to me.

Also, pushing blank flops works as well but I cant say Iv done it alot. Hanvt had the need to, I dont play high stakes =).

[DoGGz]

Become your opponent. If you were him why would you make XXY play. Just add it up and go with what you figure out. Sometimes your right, sometimes you aren't.

If your raise from the button and he calls. You are late in a SnG and the flop comes 832 and he pushes, what could he possibly have that he would cold call and push the flop?

If it smells like a bluff, sometimes it is.

[michael1123]

Basically its about mixing it up. You should continuation bet sometimes, but not often enough to where they expect it, and not where its pretty damn obvious that you missed the flop (you can't bet every rag flop and expect to not get played back at often - although if you have been, here is a perfect spot to "continuation bet" with a monster). Sometimes you should check and look to take a stab on the turn. Sometimes you should just play it straight and check all the way down if you don't catch anything.

Then you also need to work in a semi-random mixture of how you play when you connect on the flop or have a high pocket pair. And then again randomize how you play your monsters.

Obviously you don't completely randomize everything or you may as well not look at your cards. But some element of randomly mixing up how you play various hands is important at higher stakes, particularly when you either play with a player often, or you've been at one table with the same players for a long time.

Also mix in entirely read based moves that you weren't planning on doing but come to you based on either your opponents play and cards that come. These are typically the most successful moves if you can read your opponent well.