In poker, knowing when to play your cards is important—but knowing when to let them go can be even more powerful. There are moments at the table when folding isn’t a sign of weakness, but the smartest path to long-term success.
Facing A Raise And A Reraise
This is going to sound obvious to 60% of you, but for many people this is going to be a revelation. Let’s say you have 10-10 or A-Q offsuit. You are on the button. You look down at your hand early and you get excited because you have something playable.
Then, something strange happens. The lojack opens, and the hijack immediately makes a large reraise.
You can’t always just cold call here on the button. A lot depends on the three-bettor. Ask yourself, “does my opponent do this play with X?” with X being the best hand that you beat.
Does your opponent reraise with 9-9? That’s pertinent information if you have 10-10. If they don’t three-bet that hand, what exactly are you beating?
Does your opponent do this reraise with A-J? That is important to know if you have A-Q. If they’re not making that three-bet, then what are you beating?
Sometimes a solid player will be making that three-bet and you need to immediately fold. Other times, it will be some young twerp who just saw his first poker training video, and you need to get in their face. But you have to make that judgment call.
Facing A Triple Barrel
If you could do my job every day, you’d never call a triple barrel again. Honestly, if I don’t have two pair or better, I’m not that interested in calling anyone’s triple barrel. Why?
The vast majority of the North American public and much of the rest of the world will not commit to a triple barrel bluff. I’m almost proud of my opponents when they do it to me. That’s how rare it is.
If you don’t believe me, try to teach some of your poker buddies how to triple barrel bluff. See how it works. Ask them in a month how many triple barrel bluffs they’ve done.
The problem is most people feel embarrassed when their triple barrel bluff gets called. They feel like if the river gets folded, they’re winning a medium-sized pot, but if they get called, they’re losing a huge pot. One outcome is moderately satisfying, and the other is humiliating. Those aren’t good emotional odds for them.
Facing A Double Barrel Multi-Way
Many of your opponents will fire once into a multi-way pot with a pocket pair that isn’t top pair. However, many of them won’t even do that.
If they fire into multiple people on the flop and then fire again on the turn, that’s usually not someone who is messing around. Most people at this point have learned that second pair isn’t worth firing into multiple people multiple times. Usually, when someone does that strong play, they at least have a top pair.
Since that play is bluffed so rarely, we have to be on guard. If we have a top pair with no real kicker and we have no plan for the river, we have to consider folding right then. What we don’t want to do is call because, “wow, top pair good!” and then have no idea what to do when the likely river barrel comes.
Facing A Three-Bet Followed By A Double Barrel
This is one you see people mess up all the time. They have something like 9-9 from the lojack. They raise. The cutoff three-bets. They call and get heads-up.
The board comes 7-3-3 rainbow. The hero from the lojack with 9-9 checks and calls a continuation bet. The turn is an offsuit four. They check again and the cutoff fires a sizeable bet.
This is definitely the time to consider a thin exploitative fold. Most of your opponents wouldn’t have three-bet with many bluffs. Most people hate three-bet bluffing, because they feel stupid if they continuation bet and the person doesn’t go away.
If they did three-bet as a bluff with something like J-9 suited, there’s a decent chance they’d give up on the turn. However, with all of their superior overpairs, they are firing again.
What is our plan for the river if we call here? Things are not looking good. If your opponent has not been creative with the three-bet all day, you can give them this one.
Facing A River Donk Lead
Did your opponent call the flop bet and turn bet? Did the flush draw come on the river? Did they lead out?
This line is severely under-bluffed. Many recreational players hit their draw and panic. They think of all the times they checked the river and their opponent checked back. To be fair to them, Americans are the absolute worst at getting value, so they will “pot control” constantly when it’s not appropriate.
However, that doesn’t change the fact that many recreational players just lead when they make their draw on the river. They would rather bet, announce their hand, and give themselves a chance to collect value then check and see you check back. You have to be willing to fold more to these recreational players, unless you’ve seen them turn a pair into a bluff previously or there are other missed draws on the board.
Bonus: Check-Raise Followed By A Large Turn Bet
When someone check-raises you on the flop and fires large on the turn? Theoretically, it could be a bluff… but it usually isn’t.
Most people are afraid to get down and dirty with a check-raise bluff because they get floated so much on the flop. They know they are going to have to fire the turn, and they’re not even sure if that will work. Because of this, the check-raise bluff line is typically underused by the general public.
Conclusion
Mastering these situations helps you protect your bankroll, sharpen your discipline, and stay ahead of costly mistakes. Sometimes, the biggest win in poker comes from the hand you choose not to play.
Learn how to play A-K when it misses the flop!
Alexander Fitzgerald is a professional poker player and bestselling author who lives in Denver, Colorado. He is a WPT and EPT final tablist and has WCOOP and SCOOP titles. Fitzgerald also enjoys blasting bums away in online tournaments while he listens to death metal. Free training packages are provided to newsletter subscribers who sign up at PokerHeadRush.com.
