Fold

Folding is the action most beginning players resist, yet it is arguably the most important skill in poker. Every hand you fold saves chips that would be lost in an unprofitable situation. In MTTs, where chip preservation is critical for survival, disciplined folding is the backbone of a winning strategy. Preflop, you should fold the majority of hands from every position. Even from the Button, where ranges are widest, you fold around 50-55% of your hands. From under the gun, the fold percentage climbs to roughly 80-85%. The hands you fold are those that either do not have enough raw equity, do not play well enough postflop, or face too much action from players behind you. Many players struggle with folding decent-looking hands. Holdings like KJo, QTo, or J9o seem playable, but from early position they are long-term losers. These hands are easily dominated by the hands that continue against your raise, and they do not have the playability of suited hands or connected hands. Learning to fold these traps is a significant step in poker development. Folding also applies to facing aggression. When an opponent 3-bets your open-raise, you should fold a significant portion of your range. Against a 4-bet, the fold frequency is even higher. Recognizing that folding is not weakness but discipline prevents the costly mistake of defending too wide against aggression. In tournament-specific situations, folding becomes even more important. Near the money bubble or at a final table, ICM dictates that you fold hands you would normally play because the cost of being eliminated exceeds the benefit of winning a marginal pot.