The float move is a pretty common tool at all stakes of poker because of its effectiveness and ease of use.  The float is one of the easiest ways to steal a pot from a preflop raiser.  The float involves nothing more than calling a bet on the flop with the sole intention of stealing it on the turn.  For example:

Let's say you are dealt AKo and raise it up preflop.  A guy with position on you calls your preflop raise with something like 67s.  The flop comes Jd4h9c, totally missing both of you.  Since you raised preflop, you throw out the normal continuation bet, expecting to take the pot down.  Instead your opponent calls the bet without any kind of hand or draw.  The turn brings a Jc and you check.  Your opponent (still with nothing) makes a bet and takes the pot down.  Your opponent has just pulled off a float.

Although it's not the most sophisticated of moves, the float deserves a place in every poker player's repertoire.  It works best against tight, predictable opponents because it places them into an uncomfortable situation.  They don't like getting action when stuck with weak hands out of position.

There are certain times you want to use the float, so don't go around using it without putting any thought into the situation.  First of all, floats work best on dry boards.  For example, you don't want to float people on flush boards because it's more likely they'll put you on a draw or bluff.  Think about it from your opponent's point of view:  If the board has an obvious draw, would you be as likely to just call on the flop with a strong hand?

It takes hand reading skills to pick good times to float.  You obviously don't want to float people who have strong hands.  So if the guy who hasn't played a hand all night finally raises a hand, you probably shouldn't mess with him.  Better targets are the mediocre tags who know how to raise and c-bet but don't really know how to play beyond the flop.

If you float the same opponent a couple of times, try "floating" him with a real hand the next time you pick up something nice. It's really fun to catch something like a set against someone you've floated a couple of times recently and then play it as if you were floating him again. If you're lucky, you'll get a nice little payoff.

Defending Against the Float

The float is a difficult move to defend against, but it is possible.  The best defensive moves include the following:

• Lower your preflop raise frequency - this will make it more likely you have a strong hand when you play, which will make it less profitable for your opponents to float you.
• Lower your c-bet frequency - if you're up against a habitual floater, don't c-bet with air as often as you normally would.  This will make it so that you will be more likely to have a strong hand when you place c-bets.
• Checkraise the turn - the occasional turn checkraise puts immense pressure on the floater.  Make sure you mostly pull the turn checkraise with strong hands because habitual floaters can easily interpret turn checkraises as frustration bluffs. If you pull off a successful checkraise or two, that floater will think twice before he tries to float you again.