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Float Poker Meaning

7/18/2022
Float Poker Meaning 9,4/10 3103 votes

Straightforward, 'by the book' poker meaning you raise when you think you have the best hand, fold when you don't and rarely bluff. Ace (Ace-high) The ace is the highest ranked card in poker, but will also play as a low card for straights (A-2-3-4-5). Having “ace-high” means the best possible hand you can make is a high card of. Float To call an opponent’s post-flop bet with a weak hand in order to try and bluff on a later street. Often done following a continuation bet when the person “floating” with a call suspects the. A look at the modern meaning of “float” and how to execute it (it might not be what you think). Pro Videos; Courses. Live Poker 131 Threads. What is Float in Poker? Float means to call a bet without a strong holding, hoping to turn the hand into a bluff on the later streets. In more recent times the term float bet has come into common usage. It means to “bet in position after our opponent skips a continuation bet”. This is a discussion on The game against float (heads-up) within the online poker forums, in the Tournament Poker section; Hey. You used to do that when you play heads-up (MTT, SNG), then your.

Float Play in Texas Holdem

The definition of float play is calling a raise with nothing, in the hopes of catching a hand or bluffing our opponent on a later street to take down the pot. I think it’s fair to say that in the modern world of poker float play is becoming steadily important. With the number of LAGs in cash games these days, it becomes necessary to start hitting back and defending yourself from such aggression.

Types of Opponents to Float Play Against

Float play is optimal against loose-agressive players who have a high cbet%. These guys need their ears clipped and you have to stop them stealing chips all of the time. Bear in mind that most of the time your opponent will have missed the flop, he’ll catch something less than 40% of the time. The higher up the stakes you go, the more common cbetting becomes. LAGs are the most profitable to float against because they’re usually leading out with nothing and are easy to force off hands in later streets.

For example, a typical LAG with a VPIP% of 25% will call from LP with 5h-6d and cbet most random boards 7h-Kd-Js. Even if you having nothing (3h-8d), you can call his bet and bluff him off the next street where the pot becomes more valuable. The difference between re-raising here and floating, is that in the “float” you’re actually hoping to catch something rather than just make your opponent fold straight away. A float involves telling a story, and building an image throughout the hand, that says “I have something here.”

Another tip is that floating works best in heads up pots. Just like the continuation bet, you’re basically playing on the fact that your opponent has nothing and is bluffing a lot. With multiple opponents in the pot however, you can’t profitably float because the chances of someone beating you or having something better is higher.

When the Board is Checked to You

So you called his 25% cbet, hit mid-pair on the turn with a flush draw, and he checked to you on the turn. What do you do? Most people in this situation will wrongly check the board and hope to catch their flush, securing the pot. I can think of a number of problems with this play. Firstly, by checking the turn your opponent is clearly betting with garbage and doesn’t have a hand to call with. Even though you only have mid-pair your equity in the pot is much bigger than his at the moment. You should bet this pot now and force him to fold rather than take a chance at letting him catch up with a free card. For all we know, he could have mid-pair too with a better kicker – and have us beat. By taking the initiative in the hand though we put ourselves ahead.

The second problem with checking here is that we’re not going to get any value from the river. By this stage our opponent’s only going to call us with a hand that beats us at showdown, and he’s folding any hands we beat. Hence, there isn’t an opportunity to bet for value on the river given our previous float.

Floating in Position

One of the fundamental features of floating is that it can only be done from position. You need relative position on your opponent to be able to take advantage of him on later streets. If you float an agro’s cbet, you need to see what he will do on the next street and put pressure on him. Once he checks and shows weakness, then you can pounce on him and steal the pot. By floating a raise out of position, you’ll have to act first on the turn or river, which involves raising the pot blind or having to fold to a big raise after checking.

Float

Limits of Float Play

Ofcourse float play has limits because whether you are semi-floating or whatever, it is intended to defend yourself against super aggressive players betting with air – not win you posts on your own. Furthermore, you need to be careful who you’re floating. Aggressive players who adapt quickly in heads up play will realise that you’re calling all their cbets light, so they’ll begin check-raising you with premium hands either on the turn or river.


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The float play should become a part of any poker player’s arsenal as their understanding of the game evolves from the simple thinking of a beginner to the more advanced tactics of a higher level player. When used regularly and executed properly, floating can add significantly to the chips you find in front of you at the poker table.

What Does Floating Mean?

The most basic explanation of floating is to call a bet on one street—usually the flop—when you are in position, with the intention of bluffing on the next street to steal the pot from your opponent.

A player might decide to float with a weak hand, a drawing hand, or with nothing at all. The point is not to make a hand or see the showdown. This play is used as a defense against a continuation bet and meant to take the pot without resistance.

What You Should Know About Your Opponent

Floating is generally not something you want to do against a player that you know absolutely nothing about. Before attempting to float a continuation bet you should have at least a basic idea of how your opponent plays when he is the preflop aggressor and finds himself in a heads-up pot out of position. Here are a few things you should consider.

How Often Does Your Opponent Make A Continuation Bet?

Float Poker Meaning

Does your opponent only bet on flops where he has connected or does he bet on almost every flop no matter what cards come out?

How Likely Is Continued Aggression On Remaining Streets?

Does your opponent generally make a continuation bet on the flop and shut down on the turn if he missed, or will he continue to try to push you off the pot all the way to the river?

Does Your Opponent Check To Induce Bets?

Some opponents like to “play possum” and check in order to induce a bet so they can then raise. Have you seen your opponent use this tactic when they are out of position with a strong hand, or maybe as a bluff?

How to Float the Flop

To successfully float the flop you should first make sure that the following points are true:

  • You are in a heads-up pot against one opponent.
  • You have position on your opponent.
  • You are reasonably sure that your opponent did not connect with the flop.
  • You are reasonably sure that your opponent will fold to a bet if he checks the turn.
Float poker meaning definition

A spot where you might consider floating the flop would be against a tight opponent, who opened from middle position preflop—where his range starts to loosen—on a flop consisting of all low cards.

For example, let’s say the flop comes out 9h, 2c, 4s, and your opponent makes what you perceive to be a weak, half-pot bet. He may have opened preflop with aces or kings, but he’s also very likely to open with hands like AK, KQ, AJ, AQ, and others. Most of his range doesn’t connect at all with the flop.

If you know that this opponent tends to shut down when he doesn’t have a solid pair or a good draw, it’s the perfect time to float the flop. You can call his continuation bet and wait to see what he does on the turn. If he checks, showing more weakness, a bet of two-thirds to three-quarters the size of the pot will most likely get the fold you’re looking for.

If instead, your generally weak opponent continues his aggression and bets out again on the turn, you can fold confidently, knowing that he most likely has an overpair or something else that you weren’t expecting.

Notice that at no point during the above example did we even look at our own cards. This play depends more on the opponent that you are up against than the cards you actually hold. You may be more inclined to make a move like this, though, if the signs look positive and you also have something like high pair or a good draw to give you some equity as backup if your opponent calls.

Check this article: How to choose proper bet size

How to Float the Turn

Floating the turn follows the same basic concept except that you would call continuation bets on both the flop and the turn with the intention of stealing the pot on the river.

Although the idea is the same, floating the turn is considered to be a higher level advanced tactic. To be successful, it requires much more specific knowledge about your opponent. Of course, since you are actually floating bets on two streets, a float play on the turn means that you’re putting more of your own money at risk, too.

It’s safe to say that in almost all cases floating the turn is not an advisable play to make. If you were going to try to pull off this play, however, you would need to be more than fairly sure that your opponent will show aggression on both the flop and turn with just about any two cards and shut down on the river when his hand hasn’t improved.

Along the way, you would also need to judge whether or not the flop and turn cards could be helping him to improve with his most likely preflop opening range. Taking things just one street further makes it a lot more complicated.

The Best Situations To Use The Float Play

Float Poker Meaning Urban Dictionary

As with everything else in poker, and indeed most gambling games, the more information you have at the time you lay your money on the table, the better the results you are likely to see.

All of the following factors can help you to judge whether or not floating a bet might be a good play in a particular situation. It’s not necessary that every point is true in every situation, but you will certainly tend to have more success when more of them are, in fact, true. Here’s what you should look for before deciding to utilize the float play in any poker game:

  • You are in a heads-up pot with a single opponent.
  • You have at least a small history playing against your opponent.
  • Your opponent plays in a predictable way.
  • You have position on your opponent.
  • You have seen your opponent bet out on the flop and fold on the turn.
  • The flop presents no strong draws.
  • The flop doesn’t connect with your opponent’s likely preflop range.
  • Your opponent seems to make continuation bets regardless of flop texture.
  • Your opponent doesn’t seem to needlessly gamble with garbage hands.

The Worst Situations to Use the Float Play

And finally, of course, there are also some situations where an attempt to employ the float play will most likely just burn some extra holes in your bankroll. A few of those bad situations might be:

  • Your opponent has position on you.
  • You are in a pot with two or more opponents.
  • Your opponent plays in unpredictable patterns.
  • The flop connects well with your opponent’s likely range.
  • The flop is highly coordinated and offers good draws.
  • Your opponent is short-stacked and likely to just call and gamble.

Float Poker Meaning Definition

Is the float play a part of your arsenal at the poker table? Have you been able to pull it off or do you struggle to find the right situations? Leave your opinion in the comments. I read everything and try to answer everyone.

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Float Poker Meaning Dictionary

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