.jpg "How to Float Correctly in Poker (It Might Surprise You)")
This article was written by blackrain79.com contributor Fran Ferlan.
To be a winning poker player, you need to be patient and wait for a good opportunity to put your chips in the middle.
But what if the cards simply aren’t falling your way?
Sometimes, you have to take down the pot even without a particularly strong hand.
This is where the skill of floating comes into play.
What is "floating" in poker?
Floating is the act of calling in position with a weak hand, with the direct intention of taking away the pot later on.
In today’s article, we’ll examine how you can use floating to win pots even when the deck goes completely cold on you.
Let’s get right into it.
1. Float Against Players Who C-bet the Flop a Lot
Floating successfully often has more to do with your opponent’s playing tendencies, rather than your actual hole cards.
When you float the flop, you’re trying to take advantage of specific weaknesses in your opponent's game, so your hand strength (or lack thereof) is often irrelevant.
Of course, it’s better to float with hands that have at least some chance of improvement on future streets (more on that below).
One of the key factors to consider when floating the flop is how likely you are to take down the pot on future streets.
This will be influenced by the strength of your opponent’s flop c-betting range.
The flop c-bet is a bet made by the preflop aggressor.
When floating, attack wide and weak c-betting ranges.
If your opponent is playing very straightforwardly and only c-bets with strong holdings, this makes floating worse.
That’s because your opponent is likely to keep barreling on future streets, so you won’t have the opportunity to take the pot away with a bluff.
Bluffing only works if your opponent is actually willing to fold, which is less likely to be the case if they have a strong range.
Conversely, if your opponent is c-betting on just about any flop, this makes floating a lot better.
The more often your opponent c-bets the flop, the weaker their overall range.
That’s because most hands miss most flops in no-limit hold’em (2 out of 3 times on average).
So if your opponent is c-betting close to a 100% of the time, it means they will have plenty of air in their range, and they will be more likely to give up the hand at some point on future streets.
By the way, if you have trouble figuring out when (and when not to) c-bet, check out my full flop strategy guide.
Of course, most of your opponents will c-bet the flop with a more sensible frequency.
But you will often encounter a lot of players that just c-bet the flop as a default, just because they think it’s a standard play.
But they often won’t have the fortitude to keep barreling on future streets, which makes them ideal targets for floating.
So in the rest of the article, we’ll examine how you can spot when your opponent’s c-betting range is weak, and whether or not a float is going to be a profitable play.
I also made a video recently discussing how I guess their hand correctly 9/10 times.
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2. Float More in Position to Get More Information
Before getting into the specifics, let’s take a look at some general factors that make floating the flop more profitable.
As always, position is going to play a huge factor in your decision making process.
Even though you technically can float both in position and out of position, it’s going to be much more profitable to float in position.
Playing in position means being the last player to act in a betting round, which is a huge advantage at the poker table.
By being the last to act, you get to see what your opponents do first, while they have no idea what you’re about to do.
This informational advantage becomes crucial when floating the flop.
If your opponent checks to you on the turn, for example, it’s usually a sign of weakness, so you can try to take down the pot with a simple half pot bet.
If they keep barreling, on the other hand, you can decide between calling them again (the so-called double float), or you can just fold if it looks like your opponent is not willing to part with their hand.
Either way, you can use the positional advantage to get more information.
Floating in position also helps with regards to pot control.
When you’re the last player to act, you get a final say at the price of the pot.
This means you can go for a floating option and keep the pot size manageable.
Alternatively, you can go for a raise and inflate the pot size right away.
You can do this with a strong hand that wants to play for a big pot, or you can raise as a bluff and put pressure on your opponent.
Finally, playing in position allows you to bluff more effectively.
This is also important when it comes to floating, because the assumption is that you’re going to try to take down the pot on future streets with a bluff.
Poker Float Example Hand #1
You are dealt 2♥2♣ on the BU (button). Villain open-raises to 2.5 BB from MP (middle position). You call.
Pot: 6.5 BB
Flop: 8♦5♠3♥
Villain bets 2.5 BB
You: ???
You should call (float the flop).
You should call (float the flop).
In this spot, you didn't hit your set, but it doesn't mean you should give up the hand right away.
Since you are playing in position, you'll be able to get to showdown more often and realize your equity from time to time.
You can also try to take a stab at the pot if your opponent doesn't keep barreling on the turn.
There's also a remote chance of spiking a set on future streets, which can potentially win you a huge pot.
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3. Float More Against Turn Honest Players
The idea behind floating the flop is to take down the pot on future streets when your opponent shows a sign of weakness.
This means you should target players who tend to play straightforwardly on big money streets (turn and river).
Fortunately, you’re likely to encounter a lot of players like this at the lower stakes.
Most players know by now they should be c-betting the flop when they are the preflop aggressor.
In fact, a lot of players at the lower stakes will just default to c-betting the flop, without thinking about the future streets.
But they will often give up the hand on the turn unless they happen to have a very strong hand.
Against these “turn honest” players, it can be very profitable to float with a wider range, and just take a stab at the pot every time they check the turn.
Most players at the lower stakes will be really bad at protecting their turn checking ranges, so a turn check will almost always mean they’re ready to give up the hand.
If they have anything strong like a value hand or a strong draw, for example, they will just make a standard double barrel instead.
When this happens, you can decide if you want to give up the hand, or you can even go for a double float.
To identify turn honest players, you should look for players with a big gap between their flop c-betting and turn c-betting frequencies.
You can do this by checking the relevant stats on any good free HUD software.
Typically, you should look for players with more than 20% gap between their flop and turn c-bet frequencies.
For example:
If a player is c-betting the flop 70% of the time, but is only c-betting the turn 40% of the time, this means they’re playing very straightforwardly on the turn.
Against a player like this, you can basically print money by betting the turn every time they check to you.
It’s worth noting that the turn c-betting frequency stat requires a big sample size to be accurate (at least 500 hands).
Also, the more often a player c-bets the flop, the more opportunities they have to c-bet the turn and vice versa.
So if a player is only c-betting the flop with a strong range to begin with, they will naturally have less turn c-betting opportunities.
If you’re playing live poker or you’re not using HUD stats, it can be harder to figure out the player’s tendencies, so you just have to rely on your observational skills.
You should also look for other general player tendencies, like how tight or aggressive your opponents are overall.
For example, a very tight and passive player is less likely to double barrel bluff than a loose and aggressive one.
If you don’t have any reads on the players, it’s worth remembering that failing to make a turn c-bet is usually a sign of weakness, especially at the lower stakes.
Again, this is because most players at these stakes simply won’t protect their checking ranges properly, and will play the turn (and especially the river) very straightforwardly.
4. Float With Hands That Can Improve on Future Streets
When you’re floating the flop, the assumption is that you’re trying to take down the pot on future streets with a bluff.
However, your hand can sometimes improve on future streets as well, so you can actually end up with a hand that’s strong enough to value bet with, instead.
So if you decide to float, you ideally want to have a hand that has at least some chance of improvement on future streets.
This way, you can win the pot in more than one way: you can either push your opponent out of the pot with a bluff, or you can improve to a better hand and potentially take down an even bigger pot.
Of course, if you have a very strong draw, you can just make a big raise on the flop instead.
As a general rule, the stronger your draw, the more aggressively you should play it.
But if you have a very weak draw or some other weak hand, you can go for a float instead.
For example, if you have two overcards on the flop, floating could be a good idea, because you have 6 outs to improve to a top pair.
An overcard is a card in your hand that’s stronger than the strongest card on the board.
For example, on a flop like: Q♦6♥2♣, Aces and Kings are overcards.
You can also float with a pocket pair when you don’t hit a set on the flop.
When you miss a set, you only have 2 outs to improve on future streets, but if you do get lucky and hit it, you stand to win quite a substantial pot.
Of course, if you miss, you also have the option of trying to take down the pot with a bluff.
Poker Float Example Hand #2
You are dealt 8♣7♣s in the CO (cutoff). Villain open-raises to 2.5 BB UTG (under the gun). You call.
Pot: 6.5 BB ♥♦♠♣
Flop: J♦6♣4♥
Villain bets 3 BB.
You: ???
You should call.
You should call.
In this spot, you have an inside straight draw, as well as a backdoor flush draw.
A backdoor draw means you need both turn and river cards to complete your draw.
While you can also consider going for a raise here, you will find yourself in a bad spot if villain comes over the top with another raise.
If that happens, you will either need to call with a weak draw, or you will need to give up a big chunk of equity by folding.
So calling is the most sensible option that gives you more than one way to win the pot on future streets.
These days, it's not enough to wait around for premium hands to be a profitable long term winner.
You also need to know how to play in less than ideal circumstances, like playing with marginal hands against aggressive opponents who won't just roll over.
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5. Float More Against Late Position Open-Raises
The success rate of your floating attempts will depend on how likely your opponent is to give up the pot on future streets.
And one of the most important factors that determine if that’s the case is the strength of their flop c-betting range.
For this reason, it’s generally better to float against late position open-raises, as these ranges are likely to be a lot weaker than early position open-raises.
For example, let’s say your opponent open-raises UTG (under the gun) with around 10% of all starting hands.
Their range will include a lot of strong pocket pairs and strong broadway, which will perform quite well on most flop textures.
This range will frequently flop an overpair, a top pair, or some sort of a strong draw.
This means your opponent is less likely to give up their hand and will probably keep barreling over multiple streets, which makes floating less profitable.
Now, compare that to late position opens, where your opponent’s range can be as wide as 30%, or even as wide as 40% of all starting hands.
This sort of a range will miss the flop a lot more often, and will be forced to give up if it doesn’t flop anything decent (which will be most of the time).
As mentioned, it’s a lot better to float when you’re playing in position post flop, which makes this tip applicable only in certain scenarios.
These scenarios include 2 late position battles specifically:
a) button versus cutoff and
b) big blind versus small blind.
In these spots, you get to play the hand in position, and you’ll often face very wide open-raising ranges from your opponents.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with attacking these open-raises with a 3-bet preflop.
This allows you to either pick up some easy money preflop, or get to the flop as the preflop aggressor, while also enjoying the benefits of playing in position.
But flat calling in these spots is also not out of the question.
You can flat call in these positions when your hand is not strong enough to 3-bet for value, but it’s too strong to waste as a 3-bet bluff.
Some speculative hands like suited connectors, suited gappers, or small pocket pairs may fit the bill here.
If you don’t know when it is ok to call preflop, check out my ultimate when to call preflop cheat sheet for a more detailed breakdown on the topic.
These hands have the potential of making very strong combinations post flop, but if they miss the flop, you can consider going for a float, especially if you have a chance of improvement on future streets.
The Skill of Floating - Summary
Floating the flop is one of the key components of any advanced poker strategy that allows you to win “more than your fair share”.
The beauty of this strategy is that your hand strength is often totally irrelevant, so floating is a great way to pick up a few easy pots even when you’re completely card dead.
To sum up, here’s how you can use floating to instantly improve your “red line”.
1. Float against players who c-bet a lot
The more often your opponent c-bets the flop, the weaker and more air-heavy their range is.
This means they often won’t have a strong enough hand on future streets, which makes them more likely to fold to a well-timed bluff.
2. Float more in position
Playing in position is a huge advantage, and it’s particularly useful when you try to float your opponents.
By playing in position, you have the informational advantage, you get to control the pot size, and you can bluff more effectively, all of which is instrumental to floating effectively.
3. Float more against turn honest players
A lot of players at the lower stakes will c-bet the flop as a default, but they won’t keep barreling on the turn unless they happen to have a very strong hand.
Against these players, you can basically print money by taking a stab at the pot every time they check the turn to you.
4. Float with hands that can improve on future streets
Even though floating implies trying to take down the pot with a bluff, it’s still useful to float with hands that have at least some chance of improvement on future streets.
This way, you give yourself more than one way to win the pot: either by bluffing your opponent, or sometimes sliding into a strong hand and potentially taking down an even bigger pot.
5. Float more against late position open-raises
Late position open-raises are usually a lot weaker than early position opens, which makes them a better target for floating.
Try to float more on the button versus cutoff opens, or in the big blind versus small blind opens to take advantage of your opponent’s wide and weak ranges.
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This article was written by Fran Ferlan
Poker player, writer and coach
Specializing in live and online cash games
For coaching enquiries, contact Fran at fran.redline@gmail.com
Or apply directly for poker coaching with Fran, right here
Lastly, if you want to know the complete strategy I use to make $2000+ per month in small/mid stakes games, grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.
