Set Mining, Floating and Comanche Moon

I wasn't able to get a lot of poker in today with the NFL games, a nap, and real work as distractions. I did manage to lock up a win in my cash game session, and I finished up in MTT/SNGs as well. Nothing spectacular, but upticks nonetheless...

While this isn't a strategy blog, I figured that I'd touch on two of my favorite concepts in NL that I feel people do not take enough advantage of. Each concept deserves an entry all by itself, but instead of me babbling on about them, I figured that I would just bring them up and maybe go into more detail on a later date with some examples.

First- set mining...this concept is in my head because of a discussion with AltronIV. Essentially, set mining is pretty basic. It's the concept that ANY pair has strength much beyond standard pot odds, that they can be played virtually 100% of the time. The implied odds that you have assuming you flop a set, typically outweigh any justification for folding. There are some extreme examples when folding is correct. However, I hear people say, "Yeah the guy raised 6x the blind and I knew he had AA or KK, so I folded my 77 without hesitation.

Well, guess what? If both of you had 42x the blinds in your stack, I think that was a ridiculous play. Rather than going into why, here's an article from way back that discusses the concept. But hey, if you want to keep folding, go right ahead. It makes my night much easier...

Floating is another concept that I hear people describe but I don't think they fully understand. For example, I hear people discuss that because there are two flush cards on a flop, a floater would be calling a bet, and then bluffing when the third flush card comes. The purpose of the float is to convince the bettor that you've already made your hand on the flop. While the betting patterns may seem the same, a float has more to do with:

1. determining that the person leading out is c-betting;
2. being able to scare bettor with a smooth call;
3. being able to convince the bettor on 4th or 5th that you are made

I guess my point is that an artistic float is one that is made when a scare card doesn't come. And that's the beauty of a float. Bluffing when a scare card comes is a play, but floating is a little more advanced. Here's the first article I came across when I googled floating. I read over it pretty quickly, but it does grasp the artistic concept that I'm trying to describe. I should also mention that floating typically goes a couple levels deep, and it's impossible to pull off against someone who isn't playing one or two levels up.

And lastly, Comanche Moon kicks off in about five minutes. It's a prequel to Lonesome Dove, one of the best miniseries I've ever watched. I'm assuming that it will be a let down, but I'm going to give it a chance. Lonesome Dove was magical, and with attaching the name to it, I'm just hoping that they attempted to do the same with this one.

Damn Donkeys,
Bmore