Nov 10
17
Folding is as much a part of the game as calling, checking, and raising. As a successful player, you will fold more often than you do anything else, so it is important to know exactly when you should fold. This lesson will help you to preserve a dwindling chip supply by letting you get out of hands that you cannot win.
Recognizing lost opportunities is the first step to making a good fold. This makes reading your opponent important because when you are in a situation that you cannot win, folding is the correct play more often than not. This is especially true when your opponent has a monster hand that they will not fold regardless of how much you bet on a bluff or semi-bluff.
The strategy between tournaments and live games differs slightly here. In a live ring game, you want to play according to the expected value that the pot odds give you. So if you have a 3:1 chance of making your hand and you are contributing 1/5th of the pot, you would want to see this hand through to the last round of betting since mathematically, you have an advantage. But in tournament settings, you face a “lose and you’re out” outcome and you need to recognize that playing your slight mathematical edge might lead to busting out prematurely. If you are in a big hand, and you have only a slight edge in your favor, folding is oftentimes the correct play since you will lose these situations more often than win them. To protect your chips and stay alive in the tournament, you will need to make this tough decision correctly.