When to Fold: A Beginner's Guide

By Sean Lind

No mistake costs beginner poker players more money than refusing to fold a losing hand. And more often than not, it's the result of one of three things.

Poker Ego

Big hands, big draws and big egos are all possible reasons you just went broke. Poker is a highly competitive game. Every player wants to be successful and come out a winner.

This translates directly into the imperative: "I will not allow another player to outplay me." Nothing hurts a poker egotist more than getting bluffed or outplayed.

In general, people tend to overestimate their skill level. Look at driving. Everyone thinks he's a great driver. All these "great" drivers park themselves in the left lane of the highway because no one thinks of himself as being "slower traffic."

Carry over this mind-set into poker and you'll start to see that it's very rare for a player past his first few games to see himself as a beginner. Get a player who's read a book or two, and she definitely doesn't see herself as a beginner.

This will typically bring a massive amount of ego into the game. Players don't want to feel like they're getting bullied, outplayed or outdrawn.

Once these feelings start to encroach on their ego, they start to believe that everyone is out to get them and that every large bet they face is a bluff.

Pot Envy and Hand Marriage

When the pot gets large, it can be hard to sign off and pass on the action. Beginners are known to get excited by larger pots, refusing to let go of their hands. Hands in good standing pre-flop can be easy to get married to.

The size of the pot is irrelevant when you don't have the winning hand. One of the golden rules to stick to as a beginner:

If you think someone has you beat, they probably do.

No matter how strong your hand looks, there are situations where the best choice is to fold and wait for a better spot to get your chips across the line.

Scenario 1

You're sitting in middle position at a nine-handed Hold'em cash game (blinds 10¢/25¢). The table has been playing rather tight; no one has gotten very far out of line. It's ABC poker where players are choosing actions at face value to their cards.

Your Hand:

The player under the gun raises to $1. Two players fold, leaving action to you. You reraise to $3. After the cut-off cold-calls, the original raiser min-raises you back to $5. You call and so does the cut-off, all three of you going to the flop.

The old-school rule for QQ states that you have to fold it after a raise and a reraise. Poker has gotten far more aggressive since then, but we still have to take a look at the action: there has been a raise, a reraise, a cold call, a re-reraise, followed by two more calls.

After all of this action, you have to believe that one of the two other players has you beat. The vast majority of the time here you're up against AA or KK, if not both.

The Flop:

Because you have to assume you're up against AA or KK, you are now playing the hand as if it's pocket sevens. Even though you have an overpair, which is typically a strong holding, you have to stick to the rule "no set, no bet."

If we go back to the pre-flop action for a second, you might ask why you called the re-reraise pre-flop, since you had to know at that time you were beat. Even though you know you're beat, you're getting laid odds far too attractive to fold.

At the point of our final action the total pot has $11.35, with you needing to call only $2. On top of the $11 you can be almost certain that the cut-off is going to call as well. The immediate implied odds put the pot at $13.35, just short of 7-1 on your money.

Your pocket pair is going to flop a set in the neighborhood of one in eight times. The pot odds at this time are slightly short, but knowing that your opponent has KK or AA gives you great implied odds to call. More than likely, flopping a set will win you your opponent's entire stack.

Just remember: no set, no bet.

Scenario 2


Rarely seen calling away his stack.

You're at the same table, but action has opened up slightly. More players are seeing flops, and more money is being thrown around, without players getting too far out of line on any hand.

You're sitting on the button with a deep stack:

Your Hand:Q(h)Q(d)

Under the gun raises to $1.50 and four players call before the action reaches you. You pop the bet up to $5. Both the blinds fold, and out of the five players still in the hand, the original raiser plus two of the callers head to the flop. The pot is $23.35.

The Flop:

Under the gun bets out $12, the first player calls, second player folds and the third player raises to $30. Action is on you - what do you do?

Again, here you are with an overpair to the board and a must-fold situation. Out of the entire range you can put your opponents on, you're now behind almost all of it; chances are you're in third place. The only logical hands for your opponents to hold are: KK, QQ, JJ, TT, A-K, A-Q, K-Q, J-T, Q-J.

Out of that whole pre-flop range, you're ahead of two of those hands (one of which has a decent draw against you). After the flop action, you have to remove the hand you beat from the list, putting you behind pretty much everything.

You're going have to get very lucky to win this hand or chop the pot. This is a must-fold.

It's almost always correct to wait for a situation in which you know you're good, rather than play heavily into a pot where all you can do is hope. When you have to actually sit and think about what hand you can possibly beat, you're not in good shape.

Many beginners will think of that one hand they can beat out of a range of five hands, and make the call after convincing themselves that their hope is actually a read.

Remember, there is no shame in folding. It's better to get bluffed and fold than to make a bad call and lose your whole stack.