If there’s one thing that poker players hate doing, it would have to be folding. Especially the new players that come from a lifestyle where they’re used to being large and in charge, so to speak. When you’re used to making all of the decisions, that pride and tough spirit can translate over into your poker game. Remember that your overall mood affects your poker game a lot more than you might think. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up pushing in when you really should have folded, which means that you’re not going to play your best game. Staying in the game as long as possible is really the ultimate goal in poker — especially if we’re talking tournaments of any kind. We’re partially to Sit-n-Go’s (SnGs) ourselves, but any tournament needs to be taken this seriously.

Even when it’s just you at a regular table where you can buy in over and over again, you still want to make sure that you’re folding at the proper times. Simply put, you’re going to want to fold when you know that you don’t have a good hand. Knowing your starting hands is a good thing, but there are some hands that are just universally known as terrible. For example, there’s our favorite, the 7-2 off-suit (72o). It’s a terrible set of hole cards because the chances of a straight aren’t really there, and because the cards aren’t suited they can’t contribute to a flush.

The more you learn about the worst hands, the more automatic your game will become. You won’t even think about hitting a lucky break and catching 7 – 7 – 2 on the flop, or anything else that would give you a big push to try to jump in and claim the pot. It’s smarter to fold, but it can really prick at your spirit to fold. Trust us — we’ve been there, and we have learned it really doesn’t have to be this way.

The smart poker paler sets his ego at the door. Sure, you can turn on the WSOP and find cocky players doing things in a big way, but they are light-years ahead of you right now. To get where they’re at, you’re going to need to want to be there. You’re going to need to be patient. And that means you’re going to need to make sure that you’re folding your hands — not your spirit!