So, over the past few weeks, I’ve been paying a lot more attention to pots and hands when we get check raised or raised when we make a bet.

If I folded every time I got raised or c/r…I think I would be saving a ton of money. The thing is when you have an over pair to the board or tptk and sometimes even two pair, we have to play that guessing game against our opponents. Does he have draw, a set, complete air,etc etc. If I call this flop raise, what’s my plan on turn if he fires again?

Also, if we think we are getting it in with a combo draw, we sometimes are still flipping or have a slight edge. But I really think in the lower games 100NL and down, we run into bigger hands most of the time and will run into sets, 2pairs, sometimes straights, etc.

We sometimes just look at our hand and see how strong it is and at the top of our range that we overlook what could be the inevitable. Have you ever second thought that you opponent probably has a set here, but we get it in anyways.

So where am I going with this? Well, I think that we really need to find a disciplined fold a big percentage of the time. Can we get exploited if we do this? Of course, but go through your poker tracker or holdem manager stats and look at pots where you have been c/r or raised, I think you’ll find more big hands than bluffs, especially against good players or regs. Of course this is all player dependent and if there is a bad player at the table, I don’t really think twice about getting it in. Sometimes we win, most of the time we lose, and sometimes but very rarely will we be behind and suck out with our 2 outer.

I hope this sparks some discussion and make you think about the game more and hopefully make you a lot more money or save money. Maybe you shouldn’t have folded, or maybe you should have.

Jeff