Know When to Fold in Fixed Limit Texas Holdem

US players are welcome

First of all you should note that this Texas Holdem strategy article is only applicable to Fixed Limit Texas Holdem poker. You mustn’t use these strategies in other types of the game, since their effectiveness has no value in No-Limit and Pot-Limit Texas Holdem games. Well, let’s discuss the subject of the article. You may have heard that most winning players always know when there is no point to get into the game and fold preflop, since the decision a player makes preflop is a critical one. To be brief, in Fixed Limit Texas Holdem games you want to play premium hands only. Don’t forget that quality of your starting hand also depends on the type of the game. For example, in longhand games you can bet on suited connectors and small pairs, while when you are playing a shorthand (3-4 players or heads up), then these hands become less valuable. Playing big cards like AK, AJ, AQ, KT, QT is worthy in shorthand and heads-up games. Never play garbage hands – just fold and wait for the next game.
Although your preflop strategy is very important, it is not the whole story to tell. Preflop action is followed by three rounds of betting and all of your subsequent decisions mustn’t be made automatically, only depending on your preflop decision. You can rely on pot odds and build your strategy depending on what odds you get, especially if you are on a draw. However, if you already hold a made hand and are uncertain about your opponents’ hands, then you should refer to different tactics.
For example, let’s say you have Ace of clubs and Jack of clubs and the board is Queen of hearts, Jack of spades and 2 of diamonds. Imagine that the pot was raised by one (or more) of your opponents preflop and you have positive pot odds to get into the action and call preflop. What would you decide to do on the turn? In case if one of your opponents will bet on the turn, the other one will raise and the third one will call, then you can be sure that your hand will not work out, so you must fold. But if one of your opponents bets and everyone else folds, then you have a chance to hit the pot.

Major Fixed-Limit Texas Holdem player mistakes
What distinguishes Fixed-Limit Texas Holdem from other variants of the game is that the bets are just small fractions of the final pot, which encourages overall action at the table, since you can see the showdown comparatively cheaply. That’s why most novice and weak players prefer this Texas Holdem variant – they want to see the cards.
In my opinion the most serious problem of novice and weak players relies in bunch of small mistakes. For example, they tend to call with negative pot odds and continue to call, when it is obvious that they’re beat. Remember that each and every time you call, when you actually shouldn’t – you approach the losing side.
Another serious mistake widely spread among both novice and weak players is that they tend to fold, when it is worthy to continue the game.

Reasons to fold
Generally, there are two major reasons to fold in Fixed-Limit Texas Holdem game. The first decision is made preflop, when you see the hole cards and decide whether to hold’em or fold’em and the second decision is made on the turn, when you decide whether it is worthy to continue the game, or fold and not lose money you can use in the subsequent games. In other cases your decisions should be based on pot odds.

Also recommended:

1. Make Bigger Raises Against Players Who Fold Too Much Postflop
2. Introduction to Advanced No-Limit Texas Holdem
3. Texas Holdem Strategies for Pot Limit Vs No Limit
4. Expected Value and Fold Equity Explained
5. Limit Texas Holdem Strategy for Shorthand Games