Online Poker Guide - Texas Holdem Strategies
Texas Holdem Strategies: Folding
Learning to fold a good hand in poker is one of the key fundamentals of the game. It can often be heard said that “It’s not the hands you play that win you a poker game, it’s the hands you don’t.” So, today, we’re going to take a look at learning to fold when part, or even a lot, of your mind is telling you to call or raise.
Poker is a competitive game and, by its very nature, can attract some fairly sizable egos! Having an inflated ego can disrupt your thought process and cause you to make incorrect decisions. An example of letting your ego make decisions for you might be if there has been a lot of table “banter” and you’ve been enjoying the chat. Then often it’s hard to accept being pushed around, or when you think you’re being pushed around, during a hand. Try not to let your ego get in the way of what you know are sensible decisions. Don’t take things personally and let your cards do the talking for you. An inflated ego can often result in a deflated bank roll.
Learning how to fold a big poker hand when you think you are beaten is essential to long term success in poker. Players can often get “married” to big hands and simply won’t accept they are beaten. Those hands include JJ, QQ, KK, AA but especially AK and occasionally AQ. Remember, AK and AQ are drawing hands. By all means make your continuation bets on the flop or turn but realise when things start to heat up in the betting that you are probably behind, unless you have made a hand. The same advice holds true for the big pairs. An example is if you’re holding KK (no hearts) and the flop is A,J,7 (all hearts) and there is betting and raising before you. You are almost certainly losing at that stage and should fold, painful as it might be to pass your tasty looking Kings.
Staying focused and folding when you should fold will save you money in the long run and make you a more profitable player. Pay attention to the betting and your opponents at all times and the next time you have a tough decision to make remember there is no shame in folding ANY hand if you think you are behind.
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Online Poker Guide: Folding
"Know when to hold'em, know when to fold 'em". Kenny Rogers couldn't be more right. In essence, knowing when to play and when to back away is the secret to poker. As long as you can keep a clear mind, know the strength of your hand and fold and play at the right moments, you'll always be successful at poker, whether it be offline or in online poker.
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