When To Fold in Poker?

There is always joy whenever you have winning poker hands, but you can also find satisfaction if you know when to fold. It is all strategy, and coming up with a plan to lay down your cards could either save you or win you.

First, you need to know the process of folding in poker. It would help if you also had a grasp of your odds to choose whether you should concede or keep on playing.

Moreover, you need to consider other game variables, which makes you conclude that you must stop betting.

By folding, you rescind yourself from playing the game. It means you no longer have the chance to win the pot or raise the bid of your current hand.

So for this blog, OKBet will teach you the considerations you need to take note of when forfeiting the round.

Starting with poor hands

In poker, players don’t have to keep on playing whenever they are dealt a bad hand. For starters, never raise when you have a hand like these:

If you don’t have a pair of two’s and ace-two suited.
Three-card hand: fold if you don’t have a pair of threes or a three-card suited with an ace.
Four-card hand: you will only fold if you don’t have a pair of fours and an ace with a four-card suit.
Five-card hand: raise only if you have a pair of fives and an ace with a five-card suited.
Six-card hand: raise if you have a pair of sixes and an ace with the same suit as six.
Seven-card hand: fold except having a pair, an ace-seven suited, and a seven-eight suited.
Eight-card hand: fold unless you have a pair of eights, an ace eight, a seven-eight, a nine-eight, and an eight-ten all suited.

Realistically, most of the hands you play should typically be folded. Aces with suited cards below the face cards and low pocket pairs can be trap hands that cost you a lot of money. Low-pocket pairs can be dangerous in a variety of situations. The suited connections with a seven, eight, or nine are frequently also subpar.

OKBET TIP: When to Fold in Poker

Bad odds

Be a risk-taker and call a draw when the pot odds or implied odds are favorable to you. Otherwise, fold. A quick tip is never to overestimate your luck when calling for a draw or not.

You can also fold when you have zero poker odds to call. You cannot force your opponent on a single hand without any odds, especially with the difficulty of determining whether you have the upper hand.

Estimate your chances and compare them to your pot odds before calling or folding.

It is important to know that most low-stakes players are not interested in calling your bluff. In that case, a fold would also be needed.

Anticipate responses

Avoid drawing hands early when you reach the second betting round of poker (flop). The main reason is that there are still a lot of players who will respond to your actions.

Sometimes, you will face a bet with a weak poker hand while one or more players are left to react. Note that even though you think you are ahead of the person who bets out, keep in mind that you could still be behind one of the other players. Based on this, you should be able to decide whether to fold your weak hand.

Furthermore, expect that there is a possibility that one of your opponents will keep placing bets on subsequent streets. When this happens, ask yourself: is it worth calling another bet after the flop’s inspection and calling the turn? If the answer is no, folding is your best course of action.

Where you sit determines your folding strat

Your position on the poker table also affects whether to fold or not. If you are in either the early position or the blinds, fold except you were dealt with a strong hand.

Additionally, when you are in the middle position, a factor to suspend folding is if you have a powerful pocket pair or suited high card hand. If you don’t have any of these, folding is the best option.

Conclusion

If you aim to be an exceptional poker player, mastering the folding skill is one way to achieve it. They say that “practice makes perfect,” so to master the art of folding, practice making rational decisions on when to fold or raise.

One way to hone your skills is playing at OKBet, a PAGCOR-authorized casino. Sign up and become the poker master you want to be

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