In Part One I discussed the basic premise behind cold calling first in, and some of the reasons

why you would. That isnt to say that I endorse frequently cold calling, but there are benefits to doing it on occasion.

The following is a hand which, at the surface, appears to be horrible misguided spew.

POKERSTARS GAME #10462836737: HOLD'EM LIMIT ($200/$400) - 2007/06/16 - 11:03:10 (ET) Table 'Jovita' 6-max Seat #2 is the button Seat 1: AlexSem ($6053 in chips) Seat 2: PokerSnoopy ($16401 in chips) Seat 3: patrikskjold ($5547 in chips) Seat 4: Quackers ($19070 in chips) Seat 5: goin4br0ke ($154250 in chips) Seat 6: PapaWarbucks ($19890 in chips) patrikskjold: posts small blind $100 Quackers: posts big blind $200 *** HOLE CARDS *** Dealt to PapaWarbucks [Qs Ad] goin4br0ke: folds PapaWarbucks: raises $200 to $400 AlexSem: folds PokerSnoopy: calls $400 patrikskjold: raises $200 to $600 Quackers: folds PapaWarbucks: calls $200 PokerSnoopy: calls $200

PokerSnoopy, the cold caller in this hand, is an account used by more than one person. I know who is using the account at this time, and she plays a lot of high stakes at Commerce and is a very capable opponent. Patriksjold is a loose aggressive European player who is unlikely to have 3-bet out of the blinds without a group 1 or 2 type hand, although his 3-betting standards with some slightly worse pocket pairs is possible too.

*** FLOP *** [8c Th 6c] patrikskjold: bets $200 PapaWarbucks: folds PokerSnoopy: raises $200 to $400 patrikskjold: calls $200

Against a floater, I think this is a spot that a lot of people screw up by peeling on the flop. However, I think my AQ is a pretty easy muck on the flop both because of the legit possibility Patrik has AK, AA, KK, TT, or 88, and also, because a flop that is T86 is one that is very likely to have somehow hit PokerSnoopys cold calling range (think hands such as JT, 77, 98, QJ, KT, etc), so theres a better than normal chance that if I call, she is going to raise. Likewise, Patrik is highly probable to 3-bet if she does raise (even with AK), so by peeling on the flop Im in essence throwing away $200 calling on the flop since Ill have to fold if it comes back three bets to me. Anyway, the rest of the hand:

*** TURN *** [8c Th 6c] [5h] patrikskjold: checks PokerSnoopy: bets $400 patrikskjold: calls $400 *** RIVER *** [8c Th 6c 5h] [2d] patrikskjold: checks PokerSnoopy: bets $400 patrikskjold: calls $400 *** SHOW DOWN *** PokerSnoopy: shows [3s 4s] (a straight, Deuce to Six) patrikskjold: mucks hand PokerSnoopy collected $4395 from pot *** SUMMARY *** Seat 3: patrikskjold (small blind) mucked [Kh Ac]

A few things about this hand: Yes, PokerSnoopy looks really fishy here, and Im sure many people observe hands like these and go, wow, these games look amazing! But really, it isnt as simple as that, and despite the outcome of the hand, Im willing to say that her postflop play was expert. If anything, Im most surprised by Patriks call on the river with AK. Put me in Patriks spot, and PokerSnoopy wins this pot without showdown therein lying some of the beauty of PokerSnoopys postflop play (Im guessing if the river is a 2c, he check folds).

The primary argument behind never open cold calling from most people is because it still forces you to hit the flop because you dont have initiative yet, where as if you 3-bet instead of cold call, youre set up to take the pot down if your opponent misses with a continuation bet or two. For most people, it comes easy to continuation bet a flop or turn with nothing but overcards or a pair draw, but not many people are comfortable with raising on the flop with little or northing (hence why I would advise people who dont have strong understanding of board textures and their opponents hand ranges to simply 3-bet always instead of open cold-calling).

Floating, on the other hand, tries to regain initiative postflop and put your opponents to the test. It can work when opponents give you credit for something that matches the board (in this case with me, PokerSnoopy convinces me shes got a ten or an 8 or a pocket pair or something), and is useful against two types of opponents: 1. 2. Opponents who are thinking enough and trying to put you on hand ranges. Your reason for cold calling is to minimize investment on non-bluff-friendly boards, and steal away enough pots on boards you think can be stolen. Opponents who are very bad players but are passive and predictable showdown monkeys. Against these opponents, you are cold calling simply to try to get yourself involved in more pots against bad players, while playing fit-or-fold postflop. Youre basically giving away your hand range to anyone thinking enough, but that doesnt matter against these opponents because theyre just playing their own hand. So then, against these guys, youre cold calling with your hands youd like to play against them, but lack unimproved showdown power (T8s, 87s, mostly suited connectors etc). In high stakes LHE games these opponents are very rare (most bad players in high stakes games err in aggressive ways), but in the lower games they are more common.

To master the art of floating is a tough task, and doing so correctly often borders between genius and insanity.