Part: Part Six - Betting After the Flop
Floating in position
Flop
You called a middle-position open on the button with A♦T♣. Flop K♠ 8♦ 3♣ - you have ace-high and position. He c-bets.
You miss but have position and an opponent who c-bets a lot. Best?
WhyHe fires flops relentlessly, so folding here throws away a pot he will surrender on plenty of turns. Just call: your ace-high keeps his bluffs in, holds a little equity, and sets up a takeaway when he checks. Raising now commits chips with nothing behind them.
What happensYou call. Pot: 3,300 (16.5 BB).
Turn
Turn 5♥ - a blank, and now he checks, giving up.
He checks the turn, surrendering the initiative. Best?
WhyHis turn check usually means the flop bet was a stab he has now abandoned, so betting scoops the pot most of the time. Fire around two-thirds and push his weak hands out.
What happensYou bet 2,000; this time he calls with a medium king and you cannot get there on the river - the float misses. Still correct: he checks-and-folds this turn often enough that taking the stab shows a profit across all the times, even though this one got called.
You floated the flop and stabbed the turn when he checked - the float is a positional weapon. Here he had a pair and called, and that is fine: bet when a habitual c-bettor gives up, because the line still prints against his overall folding frequency even on the hands it gets snapped.
Against a player who c-bets too often, calling in position with a plan beats folding: let him keep firing his air, then take the pot when he shuts down.