Beginner Folding

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Beginner Folding

There is no mistake in the game of poker that loses novice players money more often than bad judgment on folding.

3H 6H 8C

Since you have to assume you're against KK or AA, you're now playing the hand as if it's pocket sevens.

Even though you have an overpair which is typically a strong holding, you have to stick to the "no set, no bet" rule.

Go back to the pre-flop action for a moment... you might be asking why you called the re-reraise pre-flop since you had to know at the time you were beat. Even though you know you're beat, you're getting laid odds far too appealing to fold.

At the point of our final action the total pot has $11.35, with you needing to call only $2. On top of the $11 you can be almost certain that the cut-off is going to call as well. The immediate implied odds put the pot at $13.35, just short of 7-1 on your money.

Your pocket pair is going to flop a set in the neighborhood of one in eight times. The pot odds at this time are slightly short, but knowing that your opponent has KK or AA gives you great implied odds to call. More than likely, flopping a set will win you your opponent's entire stack.

Never forget - no set, no bet.

Scenario 2

You're at the same table, but action has opened up slightly. More players are seeing flops, and more money is being thrown around, without players getting too far out of line on any hand.

You're sitting on the button with a deep stack:

Your Hand: AS AC

Under the gun raises to $1.50 and four players call before the action reaches you. You pop the bet up to $5. Both the blinds fold, and out of the five players still in the hand, the original raiser plus two of the callers head to the flop. The pot is $23.35.

The Flop: 10H JH QC

Under the gun bets out $12, the first player calls, second player folds and the third player raises to $30. Action is on you - what do you do?

Again, here you are with an overpair to the board and a must-fold situation. Out of the entire range you can put your opponents on, you're now behind almost all of it; chances are you're in third place. The only logical hands for your opponents to hold are: KK, QQ, JJ, TT, A-K, A-Q, K-Q, J-T, Q-J.

Out of that whole pre-flop range, you're ahead of two of those hands (one of which has a decent draw against you). After the flop action, you have to remove the hand you beat from the list, putting you behind pretty much everything.

It would take extreme luck to win this hand or chop the pot. Now is the time to fold.

In most cases, the best choice is to wait for a scenario in which you know you're set instead of playing heavily into a pot where all you have is hope. When you're actually sitting back and thinking about what hands you could possibly beat, you're probably not in the best of shape.

Many beginners will think of that one hand they can beat out of a range of five hands, and make the call after convincing themselves that their hope is actually a read.

Always remember that there is no shame in folding your hand. It's better that you get bluffed and fold rather than making a bad judgment call and losing everything you've got.