Learning to play ace-high flops in three-bet pots is a crucial basic strategy in a game of poker.
Imagine that you are playing a $1/2 six-max cash game in the Satellites for WSOP 2012.
Your opponent raises to $6 from the button, and you decide to three-bet from the big blind, making it $20 with [Jh] [Jd], and your opponent calls. The flop is [Ac] [7h] [2s]. What do you do next?
It is important to note that on boards such as this, you should be c-betting 100% of your range, and this includes a pair of jacks.
If you have been showing the propensity to three-bet a lot, then this can still be a bet for value. But more importantly, if you check-call, then you turn your hand face up, and this makes it so much easier for a good opponent to apply pressure.
You also get caught up in something called the reverse bluffing vortex. This is when you start out-thinking yourself. You realise that you could be floated in this spot, and so you call down all three streets, only to see your opponent turn [As] [Ts] for top pair.
So if you are c-betting 100% of flops in these situations, wouldn’t it be safe to assume that your opponents on Betfair Poker are doing likewise? Of course they are, and this is why they create excellent spots to float in position.
When deciding to float, it is always better to choose hands with good equity; this makes barreling the turn much easier, because you still have outs to hit the best hand.
On the [Ac] [7h] [2s] example, a hand such as [Kc] [8c] gives you a backdoor flush draw, thus making it a great choice to float.
