Folding in Poker

Folding a hand when you play online poker is, arguably, one of the most important things to learn how to do. It is also the one aspect of poker that most players neglect to learn how to do. Most players do not fold enough and play way more hands than they should, which results in a lot less money in their stack. In fact, properly folding most of the hands that should be folded can take a player from an overall loser into an overall winner that is how important knowing how to fold is. Becoming an expert at folding takes time and practice but there are a number of things you can do to improve your folding abilities.

The first and most important thing that you should do is change your “default” action from calling and set it to folding. What I mean by this is that most players, if they cannot decide whether to call or fold, will call. This is a very bad way to play. You lose nothing by folding but by calling with a hand that should be folded; you will almost certainly lose whatever you called with and could, conceivably, lose a good deal more. As such, if you cannot decide whether you should call or fold, the right thing to do is to fold.

As the old saying goes, a penny saved is a penny earned and that is the way you should look at folding, particularly before you have any money in the pot. You cannot lose what you do not put at risk and there is nothing to lose by folding a hand, even if it should be played. The simple fact of the matter is that you can sit and wait for the premium hands to come to you and fold almost every hand that you get. In fact, good players fold a vast majority of the hands that they play and often only play between 15% and 20% of the hands that they are dealt.

Folding in later stages of the game can be vastly more difficult as there are a number of other factors that need to be taken into account. One thing that should go through your mind when debating whether or not to fold in later stages of the hand is how many possible hands exist that would beat the hand you are holding. Next, you should identify those hands and look at how the other players in the pot have played their hands through to this point. Finally, decide whether it is likely that they are holding one of the hands that will beat you. If it is, you should probably fold. Otherwise, go ahead and call.

Folding in online poker is one of the most important skills that any player can master and is the difference between players who consistently make money and players who consistently lose money. If nothing else, when in doubt, fold the hand because you cannot lose what you do not put at risk.