I’ve been trying out a new poker technique lately with some good success. The procedure is called “floating,” which is really nothing more than calling a raise preflop and then cold-calling a c-bet on the flop with the intention of betting a check on the turn to take down the hand. Notice that I didn’t mention what your cards are, as it doesn’t really matter. What matters more is how strong your opponent is. Let me explain.
Let’s say you’re in late position and a weak-tight player raises in front of you. Cold calling his raise to get heads-up in position against him is the goal. If you achieve this and the flop is relatively dry, the opp will often feel obligated to c-bet. Insta-calling this continuation bet will make him nervous if he hasn’t connected with the board. More often than not a weak player will then check the turn, because he thinks you have something. Betting into his check on fourth street will often take the pot down. If it doesn’t, you’re probably beat and should give up.
For example, let’s say you have 7-2 on the button. A weak-tight player opens the pot for 3xBB raise in the hijack seat. Based on his bet size, you suspect he has something like ATs or maybe a middle pair. You cold-call his raise and the blinds fold. You’re now heads-up in position and the flop comes K-rag-rag rainbow. The opp c-bets 30-40% of the pot (which feels like he missed) and you quickly cold-call again. Now, if he checks the turn, a bet will often take the pot down right then and there. By floating his two bets, you’ve telegraphed that the board either doesn’t scare you, or that it’s helped you out. A weak c-bet from the opp, in turn, telegraphs back that he missed, but has fired an obligatory c-bet bullet anyway. His check on the turn, then, not only telegraphs fear, but practically screams "if you bet, I will fold!"
I’ve used this method a few times in the past few days to take down some decent-sized pots. The reason it works is that many players find it hard to fire a second c-bet bullet on the turn if they think you’ve connected and they haven’t. Today alone I’ve won 4 or 5 hands with total crap simply by exploiting a weak player when I had position. In one case, I had J-4 offsuit in the BB and it folded to the SB, who raised. I smoothed and the flop was rags. He bet and I quickly called again. On the turn, the opp thought for a few seconds and then checked. My 75% pot-sized turn bet then took down the hand with little fanfare. The opp’s numbers of 25/5 and 75% stealing made me think I could get away with this. Now, if he’d been tighter and/or didn’t have big steal percentage numbers and/or was a loose-maniac, I probably couldn’t have won this hand. But because it felt like a steal, simply floating his preflop and flop bets put enormous pressure on him and he quickly gave up the fight.
The defense against floating when out of positioni, of course, is firing that second bullet on the turn. It’s pretty damn scary to do this, but if you want to take down pots you have to be willing to sacrifice some chips and keep “telling the story” that your hand is strong. In fact, as I write this, I just took down a hand that was being floated against me by a strong button player. I opened with a 3xBB bet from mid-pos with KQo and got smoothed by the villain, who is a 22/15 solid player. Flop came 2-3-6 rainbow and I c-bet 60% of the pot and the opp quickly called, which sure felt like he either had something or was floating me. The turn was another blank, but instead of checking (which would have allowed the opp to bet and would have forced me to fold), I fired a turn bet of 80% into the pot. The opp thought for a few seconds before folding. It’s pretty scary acting first, but when you’re out of position, the only two real defenses you have are a) good cards; or b) raw aggressive bluffs. Since I didn't have the former, I had to use the latter. Or, alternatively, give up.
In other poker news, I only got in ~1000 hands this week, as I took a few days of vacation out of town and didn’t get to play. The good news, however, is I added some decent bucks to the bankroll, which now stands at $420. I did manage to play a few SnGs but had only so-so success. As much as I enjoy single-tables, they sure are tough to beat these days. I think I’ll continue to play SnGs, but I will continue to put my real emphasis on grinding like a monkey. Or, occasionally, floating... like an alligator under a tree full of monkeys.
All-in for now….
-Bug
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