Most of poker is folding. If you\u2019re at a full handed table, it\u2019s difficult to play more than 30% of your hands and be profitable; most professionals fall closer to 20% of hands played. This means that the bulk of your time at the table is spent folding and watching the action go by. Knowing when to fold is a crucial skill in poker.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the first thing to realise about folding is just because you\u2019re out of the hand, it doesn\u2019t mean your work is over. While it\u2019s tempting to zone out during the hands you’ve folded — nobody watches every pot they\u2019re not actively a part of — if you want to have an edge in the games you’re playing, you have to observe your opponents\u2019 habits as much as possible and there is no better time than when you don’t have to concentrate on winning a pot.<\/p>\n
When you should raise or fold pre-flop, this is usually established by your \u2018opening ranges\u2019 (the pre-established range of hands you\u2019ll enter the pot with) based on your stack size, position, and those of players yet to act. Opening ranges provide a blueprint for which hands you\u2019ll play in certain situations, but should be considered flexible. For example,if all the players behind you are weak, you should widen your opening range.<\/p>\n
When you should fold post flop is usually determined by how much equity you have in the hand and the likelihood of your hand being the best out there based on a combination of the board texture and your opponents\u2019 betting patterns. It can be easy to tell when draws should be folded (it\u2019s usually a straight forward mathematics question involving how many outs you have versus the pot odds<\/a> that your receiving, combined with the less certain implied odds you\u2019ll have should you hit) but discerning when to fold hands with showdown value is tougher. Again, it helps to watch the hands you don\u2019t play, since you\u2019ll have a better sense of peoples\u2019 betting patterns and hand strengths. You\u2019ll have to call down players who fire multiple barrels with a mix of bluffs<\/a> and value hands, but fold to the tight players who don\u2019t bet without having the goods.<\/p>\n If a situation is close between calling and folding, it\u2019s useful to consider any reads that you’ve picked up from your opponent. Do they look comfortable? Are they staring directly at you, or down at the board? When they speak are they doing so confidently or stuttering their speech? Are they holding their breath, or perhaps their hands are shaking? It’s up to you to work out what all these things mean and the best way to do this is to watch what happens in hands after you folded.<\/p>\n Check out this instructional video that shows a high stakes cash game involving British duo Andy Moseley and Sam Trickett where Trickett makes a solid fold. Would you have played the hand differently? If so, how? Let us know in the comments box below.<\/p>\nAn example of knowing when to fold<\/h3>\n