Float
Calling a bet with a weak hand intending to take the pot away later. You are paying for position and their give-up frequency, not for equity.
The button opens, you call in the big blind, and the flop comes K-8-3 rainbow. They continuation-bet a third of the pot; you hold 6-5 suited with no pair and no draw. Calling here is a float: you are not calling because your hand is good, and not because you have outs worth the price. You are calling because their betting range on that flop is nearly everything, most of it will give up on the turn, and you intend to take the pot when it does.
The maths behind it is frequency, not equity. If an opponent c-bets seventy percent of flops and barrels the turn with only thirty percent of that, they are surrendering the pot more than half the time they bet. A hand with no showdown value loses nothing by folding to a second barrel and gains the whole pot when the check arrives. The best floats have a little something on the side — a backdoor draw, an overcard, a blocker to their value hands — so that the times you do improve are not wasted.
Position makes it work. Floating in position lets you see whether the turn card and their check invite the bluff; floating out of position means guessing, and the same call becomes a leak.
The mistake is floating opponents who never fold. Against a player who barrels every turn, or one who only c-bets when they have something, a float is a call with no equity and no plan — and calling a flop bet with air against a station is simply paying to lose a bigger pot on the river.
FAQ
What is a float in poker?
Calling a bet with a weak hand not because it is likely to be best, but because you plan to take the pot away on a later street when the bettor gives up. It is a bluff spread over two streets, and it works on the frequency with which they surrender.
When should you float?
In position, against an opponent who continuation-bets a wide range and barrels turns rarely. The best floats hold something extra — a backdoor draw, an overcard or a blocker to their value hands — so the call is not relying on the bluff alone.
Why is floating out of position a mistake?
Because you have to act first on the turn without knowing whether they intend to keep betting. In position their check tells you the pot is available; out of position you are guessing, and a wrong guess means bluffing into a hand that was never folding.