Weiss Report Blog

In poker variations, a player must ‘play the board’ when the best five card hand he can make is comprised entirely of the community cards. In the instance that all remaining players left in the hand at showdown play the board, the pot is split among them.

An example of a board in poker in which the players would play the board regardless of what they hold would be: K K K K Ace, where all players hold four kings with an ace kicker. It is impossible for any other player to hold a card in this spot that would be the five cards on the board.

Another example of playing the board would be if you held pocket fives and the board held 8 8 8 9 9. In this case your best hand is comprised of the 8’s full of 9’s full house on the board. If another player, though, held the fourth 8 or a 9, they would have a hand that beats the board (four of a kind or 9’s full of 8’s).

For this reason, certain more aggressive players will bet heavily into boards where it seems obviously a split in hopes of convincing their opponent that they have ‘the nuts’ and thus getting to take the whole pot for themselves rather than splitting it. This may be more difficult in online poker, where the game is less intimate and readable.

Floating in no limit Texas Holdem is a great way to branch out and expand your play from basic to intermediate. You have probably floated before without being aware of it, but understanding the concept will make the play poker much more effective, and is a great addition to your arsenal of poker abilities.

The basic idea behind floating is to take a card off after the flop with any two cards with the intention of taking the pot away on the turn. Let’s say you hold a random hand on the button, Q 5 offsuit, and a player in middle position makes a standard three times the big blind raise, small blind folds, you call and go heads up to the flop. Flop texture is important in this play, as it is one of the factors you will take into account when you decide whether or not to float, as it will dictate whether or not you will be able to take the hand from your opponent, and what his subsequent actions mean. Returning to the example hand, lets say flop comes down J 8 4 rainbow. Your opponent continuation bets 3/4 the pot, and you call. You have no hand here at all, but you are calling in position to take the hand from him on a later street.

If the turn comes down another baby card and your opponent checks, you then fire out a bet and he likely will fold his hand. This indicates he missed the flop, was continuation betting as we thought he was, and gave up when he found himself out of position with ace high on the turn. The situation changes if an ace or king peels off on the turn and he fires again, in which case we can assume his continuation semi-bluff on the flop with high cards caught a piece on the turn, or that he did hit top pair on the flop. A reraise here is not likely to ever be successful, so its best to give up on your float if you get bet into again on the turn, unless you have a good read on your opponent, know he is capable of folding, or if you’ve actually made a strong hand.

Floating is a great play to make on occasion in poker, but use it sparingly, and look for good spots against bad opponents to maximize your value.