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Importance of Knowing When to Fold While Playing Poker

In this article we will talk about one of the hardest but most important poker skills, ‘folding’.

Granted, folding in Poker may not be the most impressive play in a poker player’s toolbox, but it sure is a very important aspect of poker. If you identify the situations in which folding would be the best apt play, then you can save yourself a tremendous amount of money in the long run.

In a No-limit Hold’Em game not folding can cost you a lot! It is therefore very important to know when to fold.

Know when to fold in poker:

There are plenty of situations in which folding might be the best thing to do. The key is to analyze such situations and making a decision. Analyze, don’t pre-judge!

• Stating the obvious – When you are certain that you hold the worst hand and are also facing a bet
• When you don’t have the chance to improving to the best hand compared to the pot odds you get
• You’re unsure whether you’re ahead or behind, but you’d have to call a big bet now or maybe later in the hand to find out
• You are getting odds to call but you aren’t closing the action and it is very likely that someone behind you will make it too expensive to continue

Trust your instincts:

You’re sitting at a table and you feel that your hand is no good. Now, ‘feel’ is an overused term in poker, so let’s say your subconscious is telling you something. Did you pick up on a facial tick? A bluff perhaps, a slight delay when betting? Doesn’t matter. You should listen to those instincts.

Some people do this naturally with complete accuracy. For most of us, it’s a skill you need to work on. Okay, two skills: first, hearing the voice that tells you your beat; and second, acting on it.

Read the table:

There are some basic telltales that count as warning signs. When you come up against these, your opponent generally has something big, or could well have the next card.

If they’ve called your bets all along, even though you have a reputation for only playing strong hands, chances are they’re feeling very confident, something you need to take seriously!

Do the math:

Pot odds are an extremely important part of judging when to make a good laydown. Basically, it’s the price of your bet, versus the value of the pot. If your chances of winning are the same or more, call. If not, fold. Making laydowns is a hard thing to do – no one likes to think they’re folding the winning hand. And you don’t want to go too far the other side and play scared. So practice these skills, focus on what you’re saving in chips or cash, and you’ll soon gain confidence that you’re doing the right thing. And remember, discipline is an important factor.

In conclusion, honing these skills and realizing when to fold could go a long way!

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