Learn to fold

A lot of posters here say follow your gut. often that little voice inside has subconsciously processed a lot of the information and is telling you what to do. you need to listen to it more often. when it is telling you your beat FOLD. especially when you are playing against me ALWAYS FOLD

roger perkins said:

A lot of posters here say follow your gut. often that little voice inside has subconsciously processed a lot of the information and is telling you what to do. you need to listen to it more often. when it is telling you your beat FOLD. especially when you are playing against me ALWAYS FOLD

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lol, but really though - the amount of times I find myself going "oh man, this is such an obvious value bet from these hands that beat mine" and calling anyway.. I'll plug that leak someday!

I think some of it is people adjusting to better players - a lot of people start off on the play money tables (where it's barely even poker), move on to freerolls/micros and still play like maniacs.

Is a very good tip for a beginner who tends to get all in when he comes into play. Lasting patience will eventually be rewarded.

In life, it is said that you are the master of your own destiny. In poker, this can also be true - at least to a certain extent.

hasmas said:

Is a very good tip for a beginner who tends to get all in when he comes into play. Lasting patience will eventually be rewarded.

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Yep. Even if you got AA or KK, which are incredibly hard to fold but if you feel like beaten then you gotta fold even these beast of hands.

greatgame230 said:

Hi, good advice but I must disagree with all respect in some aspect, very rarely in poker you will find that you have a 100% winning hand and you can reach extremes (I do not say that you do) for example: you have 8h8c and the flop is 8s6s5s, the turn is 8d and the river is 4s you have poker but it is not 100% sure that you will win the hand, I mean with this extreme example if you start to question more than normal you can lose good hands, so that's why I think from my point of view that it is important to know your opponent and how you say to consider your hand and see the success percentage that you have but not to doubt everything.

Greetings

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You gave an example of when making a fold is no possible, a more realistic example can be given when you have a pair of A, and you see three suited cards with an ace on the flop. In this situation it will be really difficult to fold after raising of opponent, especially before the bubble or when playing ITM.

Naturally, for making a decision in this case, the most important thing is the understanding of the game of your opponent based on his previous game at the table. Intuition and hope for a miracle should occupy the last place in the decision - fold or call.

Just want to follow up on this...

So what hands do you fold? Well, you need to determine what starting hands are in your range and the positions from which you will play them (late, middle, all).

This will ultimately depend on your playing style, but anything not in this range/position is an immediate fold! Don't bother paying to see the flop, there's no point. You don't like those cards, remember?

Also, don't deviate. Stick to your game plan. Only make adjustments if you find mistakes or legit missed opportunities.

bellicoso said:

I think this is probably the best thing a player can learn to do.

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I agree

This is one of the most important commandments of poker. It is better to lose a little but stay alive in the game.

Yeah it is easy to fold on the start of the play when you have equally money as others but what about when you see the turn with AQs and you missed and get raised by the guy who is just characterized as calling station and you are just sick of him?

Folding, especially a good hand, is such an undervalued skill and is one of the key markers between good and great players.

I always tell myself "it's free to fold" unless you're paying the blinds or there's a huge ante every time.

It s happening all the time that I can t fold AK AQ or AJ KQ KJ or QJ up to the river, and most of the time I loose lot of chips bicause of that.How can I learn to fold the relatively good cards?

how to fold

Your size and amounts of bets or calls relative to your stack should leave you a folding option if there is any possibility you might have to fold the hand later.

In essence, that means plan early.

I plan for my folds before the flop, before the turn, and before the river. Then I balance that with what I want to achieve in the hand.

That means always knowing what you are risking and being willing to walk the line you choose!!!

No doubts no second guesses. Maybe you have to check your odds when the hand is over, but learning that accumulates and you make better choices with each play.

The best thing about it is that you start to develop a "good feeling" when you do a good fold and get to see the opponents hands after. As opposed to the "almost got slaughtered but didn't feeling".

If you don't have that "good feeling" where you have upped your game to avoid these terrible plays, but instead have that "didn't get slaughtered feeling" you will likely get slaughtered in the future because you haven't realized why you folded yet.

Learn to plan for the fold, then you get the "good feeling". Balance it with what you want to achieve and depending on how everything plays out, you could be winning or folding and always feeling good about your hand and the way you played that.

Good job!

lele128 said:

It s happening all the time that I can t fold AK AQ or AJ KQ KJ or QJ up to the river, and most of the time I loose lot of chips bicause of that.How can I learn to fold the relatively good cards?

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You just need to learn to break the habit of chasing your hands to the river. As a general rule, it's best to prepare to fold if you didn't match anything on the flop. I rarely play them to the turn. I just accept my loss and prepare for the next hand. Just start trying to develop this habit and your game will turn around.

I think that is the thing that every poker player must learn to be succesful.
Me, im having a hard time mastering the art of folding, i always get the urge to stay up to the river hoping i hit the card that i need. Thats not good. hehehe

Hi
I agree with you. Perhaps this is the most important thing you can learn to use effectively. Obviously, without the ability to fold, the player will not be able to succeed.

Folding a good hand is a big boon in the poker career of a player. Folding at right times gives you a tremendous opportunity to reach at the final tables of the tourneys.
Folding saves your stack from potential damage. It is an art which comes from discipline and experience.
watch this hand where I folded Q Q to save my stack in a CC tourney which help me to finish at 3rd position later.