Let’s face it, folding in poker is pretty boring. You give up all potential to win the hand, and you’ll 🌻 never know for sure whether your opponent was bluffing or not. However, folding is just as essential in a winning 🌻 Texas Hold’em player’s strategy as betting or raising. If you don’t know when to fold, you’ll bleed money at the 🌻 tables, making it close to impossible to be a winning player. If you feel like you need some help understanding 🌻 when to fold in poker, this article is for you.
What Does Fold Mean In Poker?
Let’s start with the basics; what 🌻 does fold mean in poker? Folding in poker is the act of surrendering your cards and forfeiting all interest in 🌻 the pot. You no longer have to invest any money into the pot, but you lose your chance to win 🌻 it. You must wait until it is your turn to act before folding, as folding out of turn gives an 🌻 unfair informational advantage to the players who haven’t yet acted.
When playing online, folding is as easy as clicking a button, 🌻 but when you play live, you need to make sure that you keep your cards face down when you toss 🌻 your cards into the muck. This is because any exposed cards will influence the action for players who are left 🌻 in the hand, so it’s best to keep your cards on the table when you fold your hand.
How Often Should 🌻 You Fold In Poker?
Now that we know what folding in poker is, how often should you do it? Well, like 🌻 the answer to a lot of things in poker, it depends. If you fold too often, you allow your opponents 🌻 to exploit you by bluffing more frequently. However, if you call too often, your opponents can adjust their ranges to 🌻 bluff you less frequently, which means you’ll lose a ton of chips to their value bets. It’s a tricky balance 🌻 to pull off.
There are certain things that you should always consider before deciding whether or not you should fold; let’s 🌻 take a closer look.
Bet Size – One of the first things to look at is the size of your opponent’s 🌻 bet. A good rule of thumb is the bigger the bet, the more you should fold, as you need the 🌻 minimum defence frequency to be lower for larger bets. If you’ve got a drawing hand, another thing to think about 🌻 is whether you’re getting the odds to call, considering how often you’ll make your draw. If you are, then you 🌻 know you have a profitable call.
Opponent Type – Another thing to consider is the type of opponent you’re playing against. 🌻 If they’re a maniac who bets at every single pot, you should call much more often than if you were 🌻 playing a nit who only bet when they had it.
Opponent’s Range – You should use a combination of the size 🌻 of the bet and your opponent’s general strategy, as well as other information you’ve gathered in the hand, to construct 🌻 a range for your opponent. For example, if you notice that your opponent often folds to your raises, but now 🌻 they’re 3-betting you, your marginal hands, such as low pocket pairs, won’t look very strong.
Hand Strength – After using all 🌻 of the above information to construct your opponent’s range, you need to look at your hand and decide how strong 🌻 it is against the range of hands your opponent is betting. If you think your hand wins enough of the 🌻 time against your opponent’s range, given the price you’re being laid, you should call; if not, you should fold.
When Should 🌻 You Fold In Poker?
Knowing what to consider when folding is all well and good, but knowing when to fold is 🌻 one step better. We might be here all day if we were to lay out every single scenario where you 🌻 should fold, so instead, we’ve come up with a couple of common situations where you should be looking to find 🌻 the fold button.
Preflop
Let’s start with the first and arguably most important betting round; preflop.
In Early Position
When playing from an early 🌻 position, your ranges should be the tightest at the table. At a 9-handed table, this means only playing around 10-15% 🌻 of hands, and at a 6-handed table, you can bump it up a little bit to 15-20% of hands. In 🌻 these positions, you have the who table left to act behind you, and chances are that at least one player 🌻 has a strong starting hand, so you need to make sure that your range is just as strong. If you 🌻 want to be a winning player, make sure you fold most of your hands when playing from an early position.
When 🌻 Being 3bet By A Nit
We’ve all seen the players at the table whose VPIP and PFR stats are in the 🌻 single digits. They sit there waiting for a super premium hand and hope someone will be dumb enough to pay 🌻 them off. Well, if you’ve identified these players, don’t pay them off! When they 3-bet, it’s always going to be 🌻 a super premium hand. While calling to try and crack their aces is tempting, you’re much better off folding and 🌻 saving your money.
Postflop
Knowing when to fold postflop is more complicated, as there are a lot more variables to consider. However, 🌻 there are certain situations that commonly occur where folding is the best option.
When You Get Raised On The River
It’s well 🌻 known amongst regulars that poker players don’t bluff-raise the river anywhere near the frequencies they should. The river is the 🌻 street where the pot is at its biggest, so finding a bluff raise in these scenarios can be incredibly daunting, 🌻 especially for recreational players. This means that almost all players are heavily weighted towards value whenever they raise the river, 🌻 so unless you have a super strong hand, just fold and save your money – they’re not bluffing you.
When A 🌻 Fish Gets Aggressive
The majority of recreational players are incredibly passive in their play; preferring to let other people do the 🌻 betting for them. This means that when a recreational player starts betting aggressively, you should be concerned. Unless you’re playing 🌻 a maniac, most recreational players don’t bluff anywhere near the correct frequencies, so it’s very likely to be a value 🌻 bet – and a strong one at that.
If your opponent has a history of passive play until now, you can 🌻 fold your hand, confident that it’s likely an absolute monster.
Tips For Knowing When To Fold In Poker
We’ve covered a lot 🌻 about knowing when to fold and what to think about when making your decision, so here are some handy tips 🌻 you can use when at the table to make your decision easier.
Look Beyond Your Own Hand – Always consider your 🌻 opponent’s range of hands before making your decision whether or not to fold. The stronger your opponent’s range is, the 🌻 more you should fold.
Work Out Your Pot Odds – If you have a drawing hand or a marginal hand against 🌻 your opponent’s range, look at the odds you’re being given. If you think you make your hand/win the pot enough 🌻 of the time, considering the odds you’re being laid, you should call.
How Does Your Opponent Play? – Knowing how your 🌻 opponent usually plays is a key piece of information when deciding whether or not to fold. If your opponent is 🌻 usually a very tight player, it’s likely they have a very strong hand, so you should fold all but the 🌻 strongest hands in your range. However, if your opponent is a frequent bluffer, you can afford to call more hands 🌻 and fold less often.
Summary
As a wise man once said, you have to know when to hold’em and know when to 🌻 fold’em. If you don’t know when to fold in poker, you’re going to find it hard to be a winning 🌻 player in the long run. After reading this article, you should feel confident knowing what to consider when deciding whether 🌻 or not to fold. However, if you’re still having trouble, you can always reference this article for our handy tips 🌻 to help you at the table!
