When you don't have a hand yet, but think you might end up with one, it's a good idea to make a bet. If you make a hand, you'll have that much more money in the pot to win. If you don't make one, you can still win if your opponents interpret your bets as representative of a strong hand. It's important, having led the betting in an earlier betting round, to make continuation bets if no one else decides to bet. Unless someone is sandbagging you, you'll increase your chances of winning the pot by doing so. People are more likely to believe you have something if you're willing to keep betting.
This is an excerpt from my November 4, 2011 post. That was written in my cash game days, but it applies equally well to tournaments. Last night, I did more anticipatory betting than I usually do, and it worked out well. I made the money, and got my overall balance back into the blue. All's well in my poker world :-)
style flavor buy_in entry players entries paid place winnings
MTT NLHE 174000 26000 6 75 21 10 417000
delta: $217,000
MTT NLHE balance: $39,391,768
2021 balance: $13,920,000
blue distance: $0
balance: $91,585,453
