What is Float in poker?

To float is to call a bet, often with a speculative or marginal hand, with the specific intention of taking control of the pot on a subsequent street when your opponent checks. This move is most effective when you have position on your opponent and when facing players who have a high C-bet frequency but are prone to giving up on later streets. A successful float relies on reading your opponent's tendencies and exploiting their propensity to fold to aggression when they don't improve.

Villain (UTG) raises, Hero (BTN) calls with Q♦T♦. Flop comes K♠8♥3♣, Villain C-bets, Hero calls, planning to float if Villain checks the turn.

Float (Float) belongs to the Strategy side of the game and shows up in almost every hand of Texas Hold'em. If you are just starting out, read the poker rules and the hand rankings first, then come back here. To practise risk-free you can play against our AI right on the site.