Texas Holdem Poker

Fold

Folding top pair is not something that comes very easy for a lot of poker players, but it can be a dangerous hand against the wrong opponent. Once again, your power of observation and notes are going to lead you in the right direction and making sure that you know who you are up against will save you a lot of heartache when you think you have a big hand.

When you hit top pair against an aggressive opponent, the normal play is to apply pressure or set up a trap and try to take them for everything that they have. When you are up against a tighter player, everything changes and you have to recognize this situation or you will be walking up to the cashier to get some more chips. It is usually an easy read as long as you are paying attention.

Tight players will normally only come over the top when they are sitting on a monster hand that cannot be beat at that point in time. Assume you come into the hand with a raise in late position with AJ suited and have a tight player in early position that limped in. The SB folds and the BB makes the call along with the tight player. The flop comes out J73 rainbow. The BB checks as does the tight player and you are put on a decision as to how much to bet.

Now you have gotten exactly what you wanted and have hit your hand. The flop is about as good as it gets for you and stringing people along is probably where your head is at and where it should be at this point. You make a half pot sized bet and the BB calls and the tight player makes a move and raises three times your bet. What are you going to do here?

Whether you want to or not, the play is to fold and get out of the way. There are two things that point you in this direction and I would be willing to bet any amount of money that the tight player is sitting on a set. The first of these is that they came over top of you. The J does not scare them and you can be pretty sure that at the very least they sat on KK or QQ hoping to not see an A on the flop. However, it is much more likely that they have a set.

The second factor is what should really scare you here. Regardless of what you do, there is still another player in the game. The fact that they have dismissed you and are making a play with someone else that already has money invested tells you that something is amiss here and your JJ is no good. The set is the call here and you need to take the small hit and wait for the next battle.