Marcus Bateman / Marcus Bateman / 03 November 2008 / Leave a comment

Sometimes in poker you just have to fold a strong hand - it is as simple as that. Despite the fact that you may be looking down at a full house, flush or straight, sometimes the action simply dictates that you are beat. Poker is a game that is extremely relative, and although certain hands are usually regarded as immensely powerful, in some situations you simply have to let them go.

A classic example of this is when you hit a low full house in hold'em. Say you get involved in a pot with six seven suited and see a flop of Jc7d7c. Your opponent raises, you re-raise, and they reluctantly call both the re-raise and another big bet on the turn. Suddenly a second jack appears on the river, they instantly perk up and make a big bet, and you are left extremely annoyed at the situation you are now in.

Although you have a full house, which is normally an extremely powerful hand in hold'em, in this situation it is obvious that you are probably beat. Spots like this separate great poker players from the rest. Many here reluctantly call and say something along the lines of, 'Well I'm probably beat but I have to call here'. This is totally wrong. You never have to call anything in poker unless the pot odds fit the range of hands that your opponent could have. In any situation where you know your beat you just have to fold - it is always going to be the correct thing to do.

Poker can often be an amazingly frustrating game, and it is spots like this that are perhaps the most frustrating of them all. You have a great hand, you have lots of money in the pot, then your opponent hits their miracle card and you suddenly feel like you are obliged to call just because of the fact that the hand was going so well up to this point.

The reality of the situation is that you have to evaluate each bet and each street on its own merit, and that despite everything going so well for most of the hand, sometimes you just have to give it up.

Poker is often a very cruel game, even to the very best players. Being able to cope with these situations calmly and rationally is critical to long term poker success - forget it at your peril.

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