Coach Don

Not too many years ago, I was fortunate enough to spend some time in Las Vegas, going through three intensive days of one-on-one low limit holdem training from a gentleman who has spent most of his many years making his living on the green felt jungles of the bright light city.

   The first day was, of course, the basic stuff…like what starting hands to play, what position to play them in, and typical "don't do anything stupid" rules.

   Second day was probably the most important day of the whole experience, at least as far as I was concerned.  My mentor gave me a piece of paper and a pen and told me to write down all of the strategic weapons that I had in my Poker war chest…and to circle the one that I thought was the most powerful.

   So, I put down everything I could think of, like raising, re-raising, bluffs, semi-bluffs, continuation bets, probe bets, faux tells..and handed my list to him.

   "AMAZING!", he said….and, thinking that he was indeed impressed with my vast understanding of the game, I said "thank you!"

   "No…no.."  he replied… "I was not praising you…I am just simply amazed that you did not even mention your biggest weapon, let alone circle it!"

Well, at that point, I told him that I must have this precious strong weapon, and that he must give it to me immediately!

   "You already have it, friend…you just don't use it enough because you  don't realize how powerful it really is."  And then he told me what this weapon was.  Ready???  folding   Yup…do you see it there?? FOLDING!

   OK, so now I've spent three days to learn how to throw away cards?

Yup!  And from that point on, my game changed forever.

   I spent two additional days in Las Vegas, played low limit holdem for about fourteen hours a day, and NEVER had a losing session.  And all I did for most of that time was use my newly discovered weapon..folding.

   Years later, I still remember my lessons, and still believe that a lot of the time, it is necessary to bring out that weapon.

   But, you say, folding is not cool….folding is not impressive….it's not sexy…true!  But it is very effective in taking down consistent profits in this low limit game.

   In order to gain maximum value from the fold, you must study the situations where it does you the most good.  So, here are some examples:

1.) Pre-flop - You have junk…not one of the 30 or so hands that you should ever play ... ever.       

2.) Post-flop - You don't have something good..like top pair with a halfway decent kicker, or a second pair with a high overcard kicker, or an eight or nine out draw.                   

3.) The Turn - You have a questionable one pair hand, and you get check-raised by tight opponent.           

4.) The River  -        You have a marginal hand, but there is one bet and then one or two overcalls. (the bettor may be bluffing, but the callers probably are not.

This is not, nor is it intended to be, a complete list of situations where folding is probably the better option.  Hopefully, though, I have given you cause to ponder these scenarios, and maybe try them out a few times…

Who knows??  You may discover your own strongest weapon, which, of course, you've had all along.

    Hey, RFC members..stay tuned…next month we'll look at another weapon I like to call the "Politician Method"…. gain their trust, then steal most of their stuff…. 

Time for me to fold…

I'm out.