Watching him do it is really the best way to see it.
It sounds basic, but until villain starts calling a lot of cbets or shows up with say 8 hi, no draws after a flop call, you don't really know he's floating you.
3bets, if somebody is 3betting you a lot, odds are they are 3betting a mixed range, probably with value hands, but also probably with weaker value hands or even pure air. A lot of guys tend to go with 3 different types of 3betting ranges:
1) Pure value. This makes sense vs the average loose fish in husngs and is probably optimal by default.
2) Wide value/wide. Depending on the opponent, this doesn't really become much of a value range anymore. This includes sometimes any suited ace (or any ace), any PP and a wide range of broadway combinations.
3) Polar value/air. This often happens from standard tags. They see people folding so they mix in air with their polar value range. I still sometimes do this, vs guys that don't flat call it makes good sense (because you're just folding or they are folding when you 3bet, you don't see a flop with 42o or anything ever). This would be 3betting value hands, such as premium AQ+, 99+ stuff, along with really weak hands such as 73o.
All three can come with some specific adjustments, but generally I see guys 3betting something along what it described in one of the above. Maniacs can be an exception, though I don't really run into guys that 3bet every hand too often, they either get it in fast against me or stop doing it if I move to a minraise.
These general statements I make, however, are just based on what I've seen in the games. i'm not just looking to categorize a player in a general way. Sure, if I see them calling my 3bets wide, they are probably going to call my button raises wide as well. Certain things a player does gives them a greater chance of doing something else in another area of the game, but just observe and create a counter strategy based on what you're observing.
Every action your opponent makes should be helping you narrow down his range. For example, if your opponent raises the button against you then you would expect him to be on a very wide range. However, if he raises the button then checks back the flop on QJ3r then you could probably narrow his range down to something like AX, 3X, 22, 44-TT because these are the only hands that someone would normally check back the flop with rather than cbetting. If you have reads that he likes to check back top pair then you could include that in your range. If he checks back a ton of flops then you might want to put him on a wider range than the one above. Either way, you should be trying to figure out your opponents style and using your knowledge against him on future hands.
Watching him do it is really the best way to see it.
It sounds basic, but until villain starts calling a lot of cbets or shows up with say 8 hi, no draws after a flop call, you don't really know he's floating you.
3bets, if somebody is 3betting you a lot, odds are they are 3betting a mixed range, probably with value hands, but also probably with weaker value hands or even pure air. A lot of guys tend to go with 3 different types of 3betting ranges:
1) Pure value. This makes sense vs the average loose fish in husngs and is probably optimal by default.
2) Wide value/wide. Depending on the opponent, this doesn't really become much of a value range anymore. This includes sometimes any suited ace (or any ace), any PP and a wide range of broadway combinations.
3) Polar value/air. This often happens from standard tags. They see people folding so they mix in air with their polar value range. I still sometimes do this, vs guys that don't flat call it makes good sense (because you're just folding or they are folding when you 3bet, you don't see a flop with 42o or anything ever). This would be 3betting value hands, such as premium AQ+, 99+ stuff, along with really weak hands such as 73o.
All three can come with some specific adjustments, but generally I see guys 3betting something along what it described in one of the above. Maniacs can be an exception, though I don't really run into guys that 3bet every hand too often, they either get it in fast against me or stop doing it if I move to a minraise.
These general statements I make, however, are just based on what I've seen in the games. i'm not just looking to categorize a player in a general way. Sure, if I see them calling my 3bets wide, they are probably going to call my button raises wide as well. Certain things a player does gives them a greater chance of doing something else in another area of the game, but just observe and create a counter strategy based on what you're observing.
Every action your opponent makes should be helping you narrow down his range. For example, if your opponent raises the button against you then you would expect him to be on a very wide range. However, if he raises the button then checks back the flop on QJ3r then you could probably narrow his range down to something like AX, 3X, 22, 44-TT because these are the only hands that someone would normally check back the flop with rather than cbetting. If you have reads that he likes to check back top pair then you could include that in your range. If he checks back a ton of flops then you might want to put him on a wider range than the one above. Either way, you should be trying to figure out your opponents style and using your knowledge against him on future hands.