Poker Preflop Definition

1. Poker Preflop Definition Math
2. Preflop Poker Definition
3. Poker Preflop Definition Dictionary
4. Poker Preflop Definition Geometry
5. Preflop Poker Definition

What is a “donk bet in position,” or “float”?

“Donk bet in position” and “float” are two terms for the same statistic.

“Float” itself has two completely different definitions in poker, which can initially cause confusion. One definition is used when, after a player raises preflop and continuation bets the flop, the preflop caller calls the flop continuation bet with a weak hand with the intention of bluffing the turn or river to win the pot. This is called “floating the flop.”

The second definition, and the one on which this article is focused, is used when, after a player raises preflop and decides not to continuation bet, the preflop caller bets when checked to. This is called a “float bet.”

A poor preflop strategy is like building a house on quicksand – you will go nowhere quickly. There is a very good reason engineers dig a deep hole when building skyscrapers – you need a solid foundation. The same applies to poker and preflop is the foundation of your game. Plus preflop is where you make most of your poker decisions, so it. In smaller poker games, players tend to include far too many hands into their preflop ranges. This gives you ample opportunity to find bluff 3bets, +EV preflop calls, and to be proactive in your postflop line creation. Memorize These 5 Poker Ranges. To make your life easier, here are 5 preflop poker ranges that you need to memorize. Poker Terms and Abbreviations Glossary If you're new to poker, listening to more experienced players talk about the game might make you think they're speaking a different language. There are so many poker terms, abbreviations, and even some slang, that it requires some studying (or googling) to truly understand poker talk. In poker, pre-flop play refers to the action that occurs before the flop is dealt. A game begins with the small blind and big blind posting the blinds, and cards are dealt to each player.

In Poker Copilot the statistic for float bets is filed under “donk bet in position.” For readability, we will use the terms “float” and “donk bet in position” interchangeably in this article. (Please do not confuse “donk bet in position” with the donk bet statistic. To learn more about donk betting, a common play made by weak players, please read our article on donk bets.)

What to do when facing a float bet

You’ve been in this situation many times. You raise preflop, and then check the flop. Then your opponent bets against your weakness. It can be so frustrating to feel like your opponent is stealing pots from you every time you check!

The first step is to look at your opponent’s “donk bet in position” statistic.

Usually, you need roughly 800 or more hands on your opponent before this statistic starts to become reliable. Some players, however, will have a donk bet in position that is either much too high or much too low, and with these opponents you require a sample size of only 200 or more hands to get a good picture of their strategy.

Whenever you look at a statistic with percentages, you need to understand the percentage based on how loose or tight your opponent is. Opponents with a low VPIP/PFR with a 50% donk bet in position are going to have a much stronger range of hands than players with a high VPIP/PFR when they choose to float bet. If you’re confused about VPIP/PFR, don’t worry; we have an entire article that explains these statistics and how to use them to identify player types in poker.

Now that you understand the donk bet in position statistic, how can you use it to help your gameplay?

This statistic works in conjunction with how your opponents react to check-raising and how aggressive they are on further streets. When you are deciding whether to continuation bet, you need to ask yourself: will I make more money by betting or by checking?

Let’s look at some different types of opponents.

High donk bet in position and high fold to continuation bet on flop

Against this opponent, you should be inclined to check and call with your strong hands. This is because your opponent is more likely to bet as a bluff than call with a weak hand. This is called “slow playing.”

Logically, you should also be checking and calling with your medium-strength hands. This is because when opponents have a low fold to continuation bet on flop, they will usually be calling your bets with hands that are better than your medium-strength hands. However, if they have a high donk bet in position, it is likely that they are float betting weak hands that you can beat.

Low fold to continuation bet on flop and a low donk bet in position

Against these opponents, you should not slow play your strong hands. You make much more money by exploiting these players’ low fold to continuation bet on flop and can value bet a wider range of hands.

Deciding whether to check-raise, call, or fold

When your opponent “donk bets in position,” you have a choice to make. You can call, fold, or check-raise. With your weakest hands, you should fold. Your medium-strength hands are best used as a call.

With your strongest hands, you should either check-raise or simply call.

The more likely your opponents are to bluff on future streets, the more you want to continue calling and let them bluff away their money. The more passive they are on future streets, the more you want to get money in with your strong hands.

Please read our article on check-raising for an in-depth guide to the strategy.

When should you make a float bet?

While donk-betting is a strategy with a poor image, betting when the preflop raiser checks is a basic postflop skill to master. (Many of the concepts discussed in our continuation betting article are relevant to deciding when to make a float bet.)

Generally, the higher your opponents’ continuation betting percentage, the more they will fold to a float bet.

This is because when your opponents are continuation betting wider, they start to bet their weaker and medium-strength hands. When they check, they usually have a very weak range of hands that cannot continue against aggression.

If your opponents have a low continuation bet percentage, they are checking some stronger hands and are more likely to slow play. Against these opponents, you should be less inclined to make a float bet with anything but a strong range of hands.

Keep track of how your opponents react to your float bets and the kind of board textures that they continuation bet on.

Some opponents, for example, will always bet any pair on a board that has a flush draw possible. Against these opponents, you can make a float bet with a wider range on boards that have a flush draw when faced with a check. In these cases, your opponents are telling you that they do not have a strong hand; if they did, they would have bet out of fear of the flush draw.

Hand Guide: Preflop > Flop > Turn > River

Preflop Planning is an excellent guide on how to think before the flop when deciding whether to fold, call or raise based on your position and starting hand. It's the perfect compliment to this article.

Preflop overview.

Before the flop is where it all starts, where you are forced to make your first important decision depending on all of the variables involved with the hand. It is important to make good, solid decisions before the flop, as it will form the foundations for how the rest of the hand will be played out.

If you make a high-quality decision before the flop, you will set the tone for the rest of the hand and give yourself the best opportunity to get into a moneymaking position. However, if you make a bad decision before the flop, you may well set yourself up for a big loss by getting yourself into a sticky position or missing out on a potentially rewarding hand.

Start as you mean to go on in every hand. Make quality plays at the beginning and continue throughout the rest of the hand.

Therefore after you have been dealt your cards preflop, it is important to take your time to evaluate all of the different variables in the hand, and not just make decisions on the cards that you are holding. It is important to consider your position and the type of opponents you are playing against, as well as know the correct starting hand requirements. So make sure you think very carefully before every flop and build the foundations for a profitable hand by making the correct preflop strategy decision.

Preflop starting hand selection.

Choosing which hands to play and which hands to fold is fundamental to playing a winning poker game. The best hands to play in Texas Holdem are:

• Big pocket pairs: AA-TT
• Big suited connectors: AK, AQ, AJ, KQ
• Big connectors: AK, AQ, AJ, KQ

These particular combinations of cards have the best chances of winning than other cards, so if you stick to these you will find yourself in more profitable situations after the flop. It is possible to play other combinations of cards successfully, but if you are a beginner player then it is advised to stick with the big cards until you find your feet at the poker table.

Preflop position strategy.

Your position in the hand is an incredibly important variable that you should be aware of in every hand, yet it is something that is all too often forgotten about.

The dynamics of play are slightly different in the preflop betting round, as the small and big blind will be last to act, whereas they will be the first to act on every other betting round. However, the general principles of position will remain the same, as you want to try and play more hands where you have position over your opponents than in positions where you do not.

This means that you should avoid playing too many hands in the blinds or in an early position, as being one of the first to act in each hand can make things very difficult unless you are holding a premium hand. Be very careful when playing in the blinds, and don’t feel as though you have to enter more pots in these positions because you have already committed money to the pot. It is far safer to let marginal hands go rather than to call raises with half a holding and play out of position for the rest of the hand.

Poker Preflop Definition Math

Your position can often play a more influential role than the strength of the cards that players are actually holding, so try and keeping the upper hand by combining good position with good cards.

The cards listed above in the starting hands selection section can be played from almost any position, but you should try and tighten up your starting hand selection in the earlier positions. So as a general rule, you can play with a wider range of the top starting hands in later positions than you should in the earlier positions in the hand.

So the top strategy tips on preflop position are:

• Always be aware of your position in a hand
• Try to avoid playing out of position unless you have a strong holding
• You can afford to loosen up your starting hand requirements in later positions
• Don’t feel committed to playing hands when in the blinds

Preflop betting tips.

When the action reaches you before the flop, you will be faced with the decision to either fold, call or raise. If there has been no raise before you, then a call will simply mean matching the size of the big blind, which is also known as ‘limping in’. This is generally not a good play, as if you are entering any pot in Holdem you will want to be making a raise and show aggression.

If you are limping in with a hand, you are either entering the pot with a sub-standard hand or you are playing a premium hand too weakly. So the real question you should ask yourself if you are first to enter the pot before the flop is; “Am I folding or am I raising?”

The majority of the time you should either 'pump it' or 'dump it'. Avoid limping in by simply calling the big blind.

Preflop Poker Definition

Preflop bet sizing.

If you decide that you are going to enter the pot, you should be looking to make a raise of about 3 or 4 times the size of the big blind. By making a minimum raise you are letting opponents with marginal hands come in cheaply, and you are almost defeating the object of making a preflop raise.

The idea of a preflop raise is to reduce the amount of players who follow you to see a flop, as it is easier to make profitable decisions when there are fewer players in the pot. So make sure to come in with a strong 3 or 4 BB raise, and increase the size of the raise if you find that a lot of players are still calling these raises with marginal hands or if other players have limped in before you.

If there has been a raise before you, you must now consider whether you should fold, call or raise. If you have a poor or marginal starting hand you should look to fold. If you have a good starting hand like the ones mentioned above you should be happy to call and see a flop. If you have one of the top starting hands like AA or KK, should re-raise to help try and get as much money into the pot as possible.

Limping in.

There will be a few cases where limping-in will be an acceptable play. This will normally be when there have been a number of other players limping-in before you, and so you will have better odds to see a flop.

The best hands to limp in with are strong drawing hands such as suited cards with an ace or king, or any connecting cards that can make a straight. You are not looking to make top pair in these limped multi-way pots, as they can often land you in trouble. So aim to play hands that can land you a very strong holding or a strong draw, and then comfortably fold on the flop if neither of these materialize.

Top strategy tips for preflop betting:

• Don’t be afraid to bet or raise
• Make solid 3 or 4 BB raises when entering an un-opened pot
• Increase the size of your raise if other players have limped or are calling stations
• Avoid limping with mediocre hands
• Only limp if you have a potentially strong hand and others have limped before you

Other preflop strategy tips.

If you are playing in a shorthanded game such as a 6-max table, you can afford to reduce your starting hand requirements so that you can see more flops. If you stick to the starting hand requirements mentioned above, you would probably find that you are folding too often and missing out on opportunities to win money. So you can afford to play other hands such as AT, KJ, KT, QJ and so on.

When making your decision pre flop, you should also consider the type of players who you are playing against. If you notice that a tight player has made a raise, it is likely that they have a very strong hand, so you should re-evaluate the strength of your cards in this hand. Similarly, if a loose player makes a raise, it is more likely to be profitable to be call with a decent hand as you could well be holding a stronger hand than them.

It is important to not be afraid about making bets or raises before the flop. It is important to be aggressive in poker, as it is a winning style that all good players adopt. If you are afraid to make bets and raises when you should be, then you will be making unprofitable decisions and you will find it hard to ever win money from the game. To help accustom yourself to being aggressive, you could try dropping down in limits where there is less money at stake, so that you can become comfortable with playing aggressively and notice the advantages of an aggressive style over a weak playing style.

Poker Preflop Definition Dictionary

Useful preflop strategy articles:

Poker Preflop Definition Geometry

• Starting Hand Selection (Beginner)
• Position (Beginner)
• The Gap Concept (Intermediate)
• Relative Position (Advanced)

Preflop Poker Definition

Go back to the thorough hand guide.