Folding good hands

This is our discussion for Week 1 of the CardsChat December Forum Challenge. Even if you are not participating in the challenge - feel free to join in on the discussion!

Folding good hands

Sometimes you need to know when to lay down a strong hand - it is not an easy thing to master when playing tournaments.

Read the article and discuss it here.

I am not doing the challenge, but I did find the article interesting. I have been guilty of not letting go of a hand when I am short stacked.

Well this article is food for thought and maybe points our mistakes that we make in situations like this.
Still can find it hard to let go my top range without strong reasons, but sometimes we have in order to reach our goals!

I get knocked out from tournament in 25th plaace becouse couldnt fold pocket QQ, i was 4th in chips and raised from buton 100k,blindes was 8k/16K (my stack was little more than 500k). Chip leader from bb reraised to my all in, i call. He has AK and hit K on flop. Would you guys fold ?

mikibjj said:

I get knocked out from tournament in 25th plaace becouse couldnt fold pocket QQ, i was 4th in chips and raised from buton 100k,blindes was 8k/16K (my stack was little more than 500k). Chip leader from bb reraised to my all in, i call. He has AK and hit K on flop. Would you guys fold ?

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So you open raise from BTN 6.25X? Why?Are you trying to steal the blinds?Or are you trying to get action only by AA KK and AK and maybe sometimes JJ? Witch you loose from from AA KK and the best you can wish is a flip.I think you played bad this hand and perhaps the BB played bad as well.
Always my opinion.
Wish you the best at the tables!!

nucl said:

So you open raise from BTN 6.25X? Why?Are you trying to steal the blinds?Or are you trying to get action only by AA KK and AK and maybe sometimes JJ? Witch you loose from from AA KK and the best you can wish is a flip.I think you played bad this hand and perhaps the BB played bad as well.
Always my opinion.
Wish you the best at the tables!!

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I try to steal blindes and ante, when he reraise i thought he think im tryin to steal with weak hand. So i put him on lower pocket pair or some suited conectors .. he did couple of times on table things like this (re raise, and be agresive)with weaker hands like 8 10 off 9Q.. and get lucky ..So i call, just couldnt let it go If i raised 3x bb and he shove dont think i would let it go

I honestly never threw a good hand
I have that gambling instict, I can not do it

Fortune favors the bold!

I read Phil Hellmuth's book, so I always play aggressive haha. If I catch AK, AQ suited (or any of the top 5 hands), I'm usually 3 betting pre-flop. Always C betting, and for the most part I take the pot down. You just have to have a good read on the players that you're playing against

Yes, i think need fold. You agresive
Player?

Yeah. It's 1 of biggest leaks you can have (I deffinetly had) is to overplay stronbg hands. I mean th most overplayd hands are AKs/o & AQ... and if they hit the board?!!then it's a gonner. You can even see it on ME tables of big series. I can not remmber was it wsop I last saw it or not but the bord wen 3 suited cards>turn 4 suited and player just could not fold his TPTK. Sad sight it was.
6bb open? I reallt dont see this as a good strat. You dont get called by worst and you are playing agains top ranges. if you are you ar eshoving ether way. Unless you want some rec pleyr to get in with JT and crush your soul =)

it's like that sometimes not all premium hands will win, sometimes you have to learn to fold, depending on the tournament and the magnitude of players and also if you are about to ITM, it costs us to fold hands like AA because it is a very hand strong, but as I say if you are about to cash in a good tournament and many and depending on your stack you can pay or better withdraw, like AK or KK

yes you are right, sometimes i lose with pair of ace's
definitely gonna read that article

I have this problem even when I think through the hand and come to the conclusion that my opponent isn’t bluffing in the spot, I just need to see. I find this the be more of a problem for me in Holdem but when I play Omaha I do it all the time and don’t even 2nd guess my decision. I just can’t seem to transfer that skill over to my Holdem game.

mikibjj said:

I try to steal blindes and ante, when he reraise i thought he think im tryin to steal with weak hand. So i put him on lower pocket pair or some suited conectors .. he did couple of times on table things like this (re raise, and be agresive)with weaker hands like 8 10 off 9Q.. and get lucky ..So i call, just couldnt let it go If i raised 3x bb and he shove dont think i would let it go

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QQ is definitely not a hand you should be blind stealing in any situation, it just far to strong, you’re losing value by trying to steal blinds with the top of your range. Aside from that you have to think at that stage, even though he’s chip leader, he’s not going to be getting into hands unnecessarily with a top 5 stack so his range in that stop is very narrow, especially vs a 6.25x raise and is never a bluff(unless he’s wild and even then it’s not going to be very often).

This part is crucial in all Mtt's, doubling your chips, I particularly focus on winning small pots, playing mainly in good position, and if a monster hand falls down, beware of the villain so as not to suffer a tragedy in the hand.

Nice article.

I do Fold nice hands but only to players I know are very nice players from Cardschat I know and there is a possible better hand than mine; but sometimes they are just Bluffin and then all the teory makes me seem as a scare Fish!

3.Weekly Strategy Thread: Folding Good Hands
I have read some of the posts on the hands they are folding , ask about , and ones they deliberate on.
I am sure everyone has experienced it , I would be rich if I could see the future - flop, turn and river to for all the hands I have folded and could of won.
People - this is the "gambling " aspect of poker , and without this part of the game , then you all would be mindlessly playing slots so you don't have to think or make the decisions yourself.
Every hand is a gamble and that is what makes it fun , you fold a low set of cards and of course you would of had a full house, 4 of a kind or at the very least a strait or pair that would of won the hand .... this is why we play !!!!
I have even folded AA when I saw someone going allin with an obvious flush, or full house or strait on the table .
If you are unable to take the chance - or when in doubt - fold !!!

The tournament is divided into different stages (early, middle and final), each of which applies a certain strategy.
There are times when we need to push all your chips in the center of the table. But this moment does not occur whenever you have AA,AK, KK.Sometimes you have to learn to fold a strong hand,it all depends on the flop and stage of the tournament.

it is just alll managing the pressure to final table....and rotating the pressure and acting on good cards with best skills

very good article, it is very difficult to fold strong hands to possible connected projects.
what makes you go far in the tournaments is to know how to fold, almost always if a player pays in all the streets and the possible insurance project is completed that has it in most cases. in very few cases did i won go against a player who paid in all the streets.
I advise to follow a little the line of game of the article, It's just a guide because it's very complex this game and is so exciting.

You should know when to fold good hands, in order to achieve the main goal - to win a tourney! Happened to me with QQ, KK - only hand I think never folded is AA, though

Last time I did not fold, I had set of Ten's, loose to FH - early in the tournament, and I was kicked off!

Don't overplay AK, don't overplay AK, don't overplay.....ALL IN :-D
I have no problems with a laydown of a good hand if the flop tells me: could be dangerous..even if I have some informations about my opponent. That hurts sometimes really but this is why in don't blow up the pot that huge in a late tournament..maybe a mistake..but still learning.

i have lost many times with AA; KK, QQ; AK , AQ
i dont know how to fold this hands yet, but now i see the flop, and if at leeast i have the big pair on the flop i can move all in, i even lose sometimes doing that, and thas why i love poker, you never sure 100% you gonna win