Floating the Flop

[noobydooby]

So I'm watching a WPT event, Final Table. I see the following action, and I'm very confused

SB opens 3bb with AhKc

BB calls with QcJh

SB bets 4/5 of the pot in the dark?!

Flop comes Ac9c2s

BB calls?

So pre-flop seems totally standard. Even the 3bb size, from OOP, makes sense to me. The call from the BB makes sense as well. All seems standard.

But then the bet in the dark seems very odd. Is there ever any benefit to this? I guess getting your opponent confused enough to call with a very marginal hand.

I understand the basic theory behind floating the flop is to prevent your opponent from making easy c-bets against you. I just don't understand the justification in this situation...

Like he needs 44% equity to call with the 2.2 : 1 odds he's getting on a call, but he's only getting to a flush or straight approximately 7% of the time. And then when he does, are there even implied odds when the board would look so connected?

Help me out here. Is this a bad call, or am I missing some next level thinking here?

 

[TheDude6622]

So I'm watching a WPT event, Final Table. I see the following action, and I'm very confused

SB opens 3bb with AhKc

BB calls with QcJh

SB bets 4/5 of the pot in the dark?!

Flop comes Ac9c2s

BB calls?

So pre-flop seems totally standard. Even the 3bb size, from OOP, makes sense to me. The call from the BB makes sense as well. All seems standard.

But then the bet in the dark seems very odd. Is there ever any benefit to this? I guess getting your opponent confused enough to call with a very marginal hand.

I understand the basic theory behind floating the flop is to prevent your opponent from making easy c-bets against you. I just don't understand the justification in this situation...

Like he needs 44% equity to call with the 2.2 : 1 odds he's getting on a call, but he's only getting to a flush or straight approximately 7% of the time. And then when he does, are there even implied odds when the board would look so connected?

Help me out here. Is this a bad call, or am I missing some next level thinking here?

That is definitely a different play....I can see the AK making a bet in the dark and praying an A or K hits. The call QJ and basically no equity makes absolutely no sense to me..

 

[PaxMundi]

It's something you see quite a bit usually on high stakes cash games and from the older pros.And it's of no benefit whatsoever it's actually a disadvantage to bet in the dark but it makes for good tv.

 

[noobydooby]

It's something you see quite a bit usually on high stakes cash games and from the older pros.And it's of no benefit whatsoever it's actually a disadvantage to bet in the dark but it makes for good tv.

I mean, I could see it being OCCASIONALLY possible to have a merged range where all of your hands are going to want to bet. Can't exactly come up with a scenario of the top of my head though.

It makes for good TV for someone who's only casually interested in poker though, definitely

 

[tmfnsanders]

The bet in the dark from AK is pretty awesome if you think about it. You are dealt a great hand bvb, you bet hoping they come over the top, then they flatcall so you are assuming they are defending with a rather wide range of hands.

If you wait until the flop hits and cbet- he can easily fold the hands that you have crushed. Betting in the dark kinda forces the opponent to float the flop with pretty much anything. He either thinks he can take it from us on a later street, thinks his Q high is ahead right now, or thinks he has enough equity with his face cards and back door draws if he is currently behind.

I'm not saying I would do this, but if you think about it from a pros and cons aspect- I think it makes sense for both players