How to float

[Max]

Hey all,
I’ve been trying to improve my post flop play. I’ve gotten better about picking and choosing when to C-bet. But, on the opposite side of the table…When do y’all float a C-bet? Are there any hand types you feel “float” better? or any board textures you think are advantageous? Or do you do this primarily based on reads/tells/tendencies? I figured if C-bets are “good” on dry boards then maybe “floats” were better on wet/scary boards…..This ended poorly (albeit small sample size).

Any advice would be great.

Thanks in advance

[John S]

That’s a pretty complex question. You want to float different boards for different reasons. Sure, wet boards can be scary, and when the flush/straight card comes in you can make it difficult the villain to continue.

But it’s very situation dependent. If you have a player that is c-betting way too much, you want to float on lower boards with the intention of stealing the pot later. If the flop comes 742 rainbow and the villain who always c-bets decides to c-bet, this is a good time to float. If he has a pocket pair he’s going to continue, but most likely will shut down his AK, AQ, KQ, etc. Floating these times will allow you to pick up the pot on later streets.

A lot of factors go into when to float – player (pre-flop raiser), position, board texture, number of players in the pot, stack sizes, etc. I never play higher than 2-5, and I rarely float in situations other than the one I talked about above (other than that time I floated Brad Owen in the Arizona Meet-up game, but that’s a story for another time), so I’m far from an expert. But that lower stakes you don’t want to run too many fancy plays. Just try a few times when you think the player is weak and you want to win the pot on later streets (or when you’re not in the pot watch others doing the same). And remember not to be results oriented – it’s not about what works this time, it’s about what works a high percentage of times.

[Steven Young]

Heavily depends on players and many factors. Another example: if you find one op C-bets then gives up if someone calls the flop, then floating here could work. If he checks the turn then a bet can take it down. Being in position also helps in this and all situations.

[Mike]

For me it is fully dependent on the player in the hand. I try to observe all the players at the table for many hands while I am not in the hand. I like to see hands that players call with and really like to see which situations they call and fold in.. For example If you have several players at your table who may not have the coin to do many rebuys and are basically playing off their weekly check they will more times than not fold every marginal to good hand when faced when a decent raise on the turn or river.Why? Because they want to stay and play. They don’t get to play that often and they really don’t want to risk going broke too early which would make them have to go home…

• This reply was modified 6 years, 11 months ago by Mike.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 11 months ago by Mike.

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