Your Guide To Folding At Hold’em Tables

Folding can feel a whole lot like not actually playing poker. But that’s where you’re wrong. Folding in hold’em is actually one of the smartest things you can do in poker.

Intuition and folding in hold’em

Throughout the history of Texas hold’em, some poker players have relied a whole lot on their intuition. And that’s great. But sometimes a beginner player that plays a lot with “gut feelings” can make a whole lot of mistakes.

They get dealt a middling hand and just feel like it could win this time. Maybe they won improbably with it before and feel like they can’t fold it now. What if lightning strikes twice?

If that sounds familiar, this is one of those situations where folding in hold’em is definitely a good idea.

Folding cards can lead to more exciting games

Yes, you read that right. If everyone folded more readily and agonised less about it, games would be much faster paced and more interesting.

Folding can be decisive, smart and leads to less time wasting. And that’s exactly what we look for in a poker game!

What if you just really feel like playing a hand?

In some games, you keep getting dealt shocking hands. Over and over and over again. You feel like all you’ve done this whole time is a load of folding in hold’em.

Now, there is merit to incorporating some bluffing into your play. Do it rarely and do it with intent and you could end up winning a few juicy hands.

But if you just limp in with a middling hand with no real plan, just because you feel like playing, it probably won’t end well. Better to stick to playing strong hands, and incorporate the odd smart bluff.

Maximise winnings, minimise losses

Sometimes folding early is your best bet to maximise your winnings and minimise your losses during a game of poker. Limping in to see the flop with average hands can quickly chip away at your chip stack until your seriously dwindling.

Likewise, a late fold with a strong hand can also sometimes be the right move. Okay, maybe you have something spectacular. You’ve been betting aggressively to see where it goes. But then on the turn or the river, your realise there’s a real possibility you can be outplayed. Your opponent bets big. You could match them, or you could walk away.

Sometimes a walk away can mean you don’t throw good money after bad. Folding in this scenario, just makes sense.

Where can I practice my folding in hold’em online?

Almost every table in online poker rooms allow you to fold (unless you’re playing one of those exciting all-in on every hand games, like Wild Twister). But what you’ve got to find is an online poker room where there’s a good variety of tournaments, cash games, buy-in options, really good software and a decent player pool.

Then you can really test out your new skills. Somewhere that ticks all those boxes, and more, is bet365 Poker. And if you’re new to the site, you can get a fantastic sign up offer with this bet365 bonus code.