Fold if the current bet is too high or you have a bad hand. This means quitting the round of poker. To fold, place your cards face down on the table and say, “I fold.” Then, add your cards to the discard pile. Don’t show your cards when you fold during a game, as this can spoil which cards are out of play. The “All In or Fold” variety of poker is one of the more exciting newer options with the game. Basically, once you see your hand, you either put all of your chips in the middle of the table or you fold your hand. Typically, each player has to buy in with four to eight big blinds. The Push Fold Quiz is a companion to the Push Fold App. The Push Fold Quiz is a great way to practice short stack situations where you have less than 12 big blinds and you need to decide whether to Shove All In or Fold. The Push Fold Quiz is also available in the PokerCoaching.com Mobile App which is available on both iOS and Android platforms. Below you’ll find step-by-step rules guides to all the most popular variations of poker including Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Seven-Card Stud, Razz and 2-7 Triple Draw. You’ll also find plenty of rules for all kinds of lesser known poker games from Strip Poker and Pineapple to 5-Card Draw and Badugi. This all-in or fold play is most likely due to the fact that blind levels were moving fairly quickly for a live tournament. 20 minutes is only enough time to play around 10-15 hands, depending on how fast the hands are going and how fast the players are playing.

Introduction to Folding

Knowing what hands to fold in poker doesn’t come easy to most players. If you’re reading this article, you’re probably concerned that you play too many hands, call too many raises speculatively or on the contrary, play too tight and need some guidance. We can’t all play like Phil Ivey or Tom Dwan and expect play a wide range of hands profitably. This article will give a basic guide on what hands to fold in poker.

Playing Situations, not Just Cards

Before I get into the hand groups you should be folding. Let me preface it by saying that, as your experience, table awareness and proficiency in Texas Hold’em develops, you will look for profitable situations instead of just playing solid poker hands. This is something I always tell players I mentor. But this article is designed to help those of you who are having difficulty with pre flop hand selection and want some general advice on what hands to fold in poker.

Ace Rag

Ace rag is almost definitely the most overplayed and overrated hand in Texas Holdem. Even professionals will occasionally overplay the ace if they’ve been dealt junk for hours. The truth is, unless you are in position or shorthanded, these hands are unlikely to make you any money or help build your stack much.

They don’t play particularly well post flop and you are unlikely to extract 3 streets of value if you make top pair. Sometimes when you think you will, you end up finding yourself beat by a bigger kicker.

Low Paint Cards

This may surprise you but the Queen Jack and King Jack hands are not as powerful as you think. Granted, you have two paint cards and have the opportunity to make straights. But, if you are calling raises with these hands, particularly against early position open raises, you are going to find yourself outkicked or against a higher pair.

If a strong player is opening from under the gun and you are tempted to play Queen Jack from the small blind, think again. The range of hands you are likely to be up against have Queen Jack in bad shape.

Hands To Fold In Poker

To make this clearer, if you are against an Ace Jack, Ace Queen or King Queen, you are approx. 25% to win the hand in a showdown. Let’s also not forget you do not have the pre flop lead.

Low Connectors

Hands like 4-5, 6-7 and 3-4 are hands to fold in poker. I make a distinction from suited as they play much better. The offsuit low connectors are unlikely to help your ROI. You may have seen some professionals call raises on High Stakes Poker with these hands. That doesn’t mean they were right to and it doesn’t mean you should. Unless you make a hand stronger than one pair, you are unlikely to feel secure with low connectors so just throw them away.

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Push Fold Charts
These Push Fold Charts will help you understand when you need to either fold or shove your entire stack when you are short stacked in poker tournaments. Please use these charts as a study tool to help you improve your understanding of push fold scenarios.

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will help you with short handed play and other aspects of Poker Tournaments.

You can get a PDF copy free by clicking here.

If you want to access these Push Fold Charts on your phone, download the PokerCoaching.com Mobile App With Free Push / Fold Charts

You can also access the Push / Fold App on your computer to access these and more charts for all seating positions, and several different blind levels.

All In Or Fold Poker Machines

Also check out our Push/Fold Quiz which will help you test and remember you skills when short stacked.

Load Chart Desired:

Fold Frequency Poker

These charts are meant to be used for study purposes. Make sure to check the Terms and Conditions of the sites that you play on to see if this is against the rules to use any of these while you’re in a poker game. If it is against the TOC of the game you are in, you should not use these tools while you play.