As the title states, this article is about playing poker, specifically tips on “when to fold”, as it is one of the most crucial yet difficult decisions you will deal with when playing poker. Reading this article may help you on your way to playing poker with the best odds of winning.
Folding is one of the hardest decisions you will have to make in playing any poker game. It can even be more difficult when playing poker online, as internet ‘tells’ can be very obvious and hard to hide. You want to fold hands when the action to you on your hand is slow, or you have for a very long time, and nothing worth betting has happened. Or, you have a top pair, and someone small or up on the board has bet. Or, you have a straight, and someone else is chasing a straight.
Playing against the ‘mentality’ in poker is also important. Learn to get frustrated, and you will see a lot of your other opponents at the poker table bust out. This does not mean you are incompetent. What it means is you have become mentally hooked on playing poker – in other words, you are prone to emotional reactions – and this affects your decisions and how effectively you make them.
Learn to squeeze a profit out of every hand you play. Learn to identify the most value hands you have every chance to make a winning hand, and get out if you have nothing when you are dealt good cards. Learn to identify hands that you can make a killing in pre-flop – if you are in late position, or against few opponents, you can take a pot 64% to 65% of the time, but you will have to risk it all sometimes.
These are all crucial areas of any successful afapoker player’s skill set. Playing poker and successfully increasing your value on every hand you do play is an inherent progression in your poker skill set. Read that again, and imagine if you will, you can take on an opponent, and after they lose the hand, you make a lot of money. Read that again, and imagine that – you can make money almost every hand you play. How many hands though do you think you will see in your lifetime? No matter how many of those hands you win, you will always emerge from the hand with a loss.
Therefore, if you can win most of the hands you play, you will always end up ahead, no matter how large an amount of money you have in front of you. It is this psychological edge that makes a lot of difference in the long-term profit on your bankroll.
Lastly, I believe that the best poker players are also the best students. That is a fact, and it is a result of the hours and months and years that we spend behind the poker table. Student things are never done to be funny. Student things are always done for a good, precise, and most importantly, long-term reason. Arena poker is Arena Royale. And you are certain to be an underdog at some point, unless you have class, or are on easy street.
Stay patient, and student things will never last forever. There are good students, and there are bad students. The good students stick around, and the bad students quickly get bored. Be nice to the teacher, and you will feel happier and more fulfilled in your poker experience.