Basics of Successful Floating in Poker

Floating is an advanced poker technique used to win the pot when you don’t have a strong hand. It involves calling an opponent’s continuation bet on the flop with the intention of taking the pot in a later betting round, often by betting on the turn or river.

To successfully employ floating, you need to consider several key aspects, which we will discuss in detail in this article.

Table of Contents:

- Heads-Up Pots

- Position

- Opponent’s C-betting Frequency

- Bet Size

Heads-Up Pots

Floating should only be applied in situations where you are heads-up against the preflop aggressor on the flop.

In heads-up pots, players tend to make continuation bets on the flop more frequently. Therefore, their betting range in such situations will be wider, including many weak hands and bluffs against which you can successfully execute a float.

In multiway pots, preflop aggressors generally make bluff continuation bets less frequently because they understand that the likelihood of someone having a strong hand increases significantly, making their bluff less likely to succeed.

As a result, their continuation bet range against multiple players will be significantly stronger than in heads-up situations, and in such conditions, floating loses its effectiveness.

In Hand2Note 4 Multi-player reports, I selected all regular players with a VPIP of no more than 25% and a PFR of no more than 20%, each with at least 1000 hands in my database.

Then I filtered situations where these players opened with a raise preflop and then made a continuation bet. I also specified in the filter that the number of players on the flop was equal to two, meaning they were facing only one opponent:

As we can see, in this scenario, their continuation bet frequency is 60%, indicating a fairly wide range that includes a considerable number of weak and marginal hands.

Now, let’s change the filter condition to specify that there were at least three players in the pot on the flop:

The continuation bet frequency of regular players has significantly decreased to 43%. This lower frequency indicates a stronger range, consisting mainly of strong made hands, draws, and a small number of bluffs.

Therefore, when facing a continuation bet in a multiway pot, it’s better to avoid floating with weak hands and simply fold, waiting for a more suitable situation.

Position

Classic floating is only possible when you have position on the preflop aggressor. Having a position postflop gives you a crucial strategic advantage.

When you call their continuation bet on the flop and then attack their check on the turn, your opponent, playing out of position, always has to consider that if they check-call on the turn, they might face another bet on the river. This factor creates additional pressure on the opponent and is a key condition for successful floating.

In Hand2Note 4 reports, I selected situations where I called an open raise preflop and then applied floating on the turn:

According to the Action Profit indicator, in each such situation, my profit from floating is 14 big blinds, which is a very good result. At the same time, a WWSF stat of 79% indicates that in the vast majority of situations, opponents do not withstand the pressure and give up pots without a showdown.

Some players attempt to apply what’s known as reverse floating or floating out of position. This move is much less effective, and I would recommend beginners to avoid using it in their game.

Firstly, opponents more often fire a second barrel when they are in position, meaning you’ll see them check the turn less frequently. Secondly, even if an opponent skips betting on the turn, the pot on the river remains relatively small, making it easier for them to call your bluff since they won’t risk a significant amount of money.

Opponent’s C-betting Frequency

Floating works exceptionally well against players who often make continuation bets out of position on the flop but play honestly on the turn and rarely fire a second barrel without a strong hand.

There are still many such players in modern online poker. They automatically make continuation bets on the flop simply because they were the preflop aggressors. As a result, they end up on the turn with a very wide and vulnerable range. These are the opponents you should float against on the turn when they check.

Preflop, we called a raise on the Button from a regular player in the Early Position with KQ suited. The flop came T52 rainbow, and our opponent made a continuation bet. Initially, it might seem prudent to just fold since we missed the flop, but such a decision would be premature.

In the Hand2Note 4 HUD, we can see that the opponent makes a continuation bet on the flop 75% of the time, and on such a dry flop, they are likely betting with their entire range. Let’s open their popup and see how often they continue aggression on the turn:

Up to this hand, the opponent fired the second barrel on the turn in 40% of cases, or 2 times out of 5. Given that our flop call looks strong, it’s unlikely they will barrel into us with a pure bluff.

Additionally, considering that we have two overcards, a backdoor flush draw, and a backdoor straight draw, calling on the flop with a plan to float on the turn would be a good decision.

So, we called on the flop, and the turn brought a 7, giving us a flush draw, and as expected, the opponent checked. This is a great opportunity to make a bet and float the opponent, aiming to force them to fold hands like A-high and low pocket pairs that currently beat us.

Bet Size

When floating, your main goal is to win the pot immediately on the turn, so it’s better to bet larger. If your bet is too small, you won’t apply enough pressure on your opponent and you’ll give them a reasonable price to call.

Let’s refer back to the floating report we obtained and switch to the Bet Sizes tab to see how opponents react to different bet sizes on the turn:

As we can see, players noticeably fold more often to bets sized at 80% of the pot or larger. Such a bet size applies substantial pressure, forces opponents into tough decisions, and increases the likelihood of them folding their hands.

Floating is a move that can greatly increase your winnings if used correctly. Effectively employing floating allows you to apply pressure on opponents and win pots with bluffs.

Hand2Note 4 provides you with the capability to analyze players’ statistics, identify their weaknesses, and find appropriate moments for floating. You’ll have detailed information on opponents’ continuation bet frequencies and their behavior on different streets, allowing you to choose aggression moments more accurately and improve your chances of success.