Newbie... just joined. Question on FOLDING...

When play has gone to the river and from the way players have bet, noone seems to have a really good hand... if I have a small pair, 2 to 4, or just a high card, 9 to J, ...

... is it better to fold if I think I have a small chance of winning rather than SHOW the other players that I bet to the river with really nothing in my hand...

I did a few searches and scanned through topics to see if I could find an answer, but found nothing...

Thanks!

David

J or 9 high, fold it... If someone is going to bet on the river they probably have atleast a pair, or are slowplaying a monster hand. If its checked to you just check it out, and muck your hand.

Calling river bets with low pair/high cards is a recipe to lose money/chips.

Welcome to the forums

It depends on whether you normally play like this or if you want to advertise in order to get action later on.

If you play like this a lot, then fold it and don't let them know you are a bad player because they will eat you up.

Otherwise, if this is a rare thing (and as long as it is cheap), you might as well see the river as a form of advertising. The good players will notice you were playing with crap, and will lower their standards when playing against you in future hands.

If 2-3 people limp in pre-flop and check it down to the river, then someone in late position bets the minimum on the river, you should fold your J high (even Q high) but call with bottom pair or next to bottom pair. At that point it seems obvious that everyone has missed a lot, and no one is slow-playing. However, you don't know if your battling a miracle river pair or a pot stealer or a confident high card.

However, this is situational. There are many times I will muck next to bottom pair, there are still a lot of opportunities for me to be beat.

I usually DO NOT play bottom pairs or try a 9,10, or J high... when I do, its usually in late postion and my "read" on others is that they may be bluffing or just limping in to see what happens.

Typically, the way I play is basically steady... but mixing things up. When my position and the time seems right, I may play aggressively with little in my hand... OR with a monster hand. Othertimes, I play passively with little or A LOT.... but most of the time I stick to "smart", safe play. I've even folded on 4th street with,say, AQ off suit when the read seems right. And yes, a few times I have kicked myself because, if I had stayed in, I would have won the pot. Of course, I've even gone to the river with small pairs and sometimes I win, sometimes I lose.

I figure that, the way I play, no one ever knows WHAT in the heck I'm going to do. It seems to work for some of the guys on the wpt & world series...

As far as how expensive I play... right now VERY inexpensive and mostly for fun.... BUT ... I've got my eye on the "big" seat... maybe one day you'll see me there! I always say... "the more you practice, the better you get"... so that's what I'm doing... for now. <wink>

David