Folding 40 percent of your hands.

[MrsBobbyB]

Hi! I am new to this site but have played a lot of poker in my life. I have had many people tell me that if you play more than 40 percent of your hands that you are playing too much. I have a poker game for my PSP World Series of Poker Battle of the Bracelets, it has tips on there from these really big poker players and I actually seen this here too. Does anyone go by this rule, has anyone ever heard it before, and is there any truth to it? Because if so I think I play way too many of my hands. Thanks.

[Tsnow]

Hi, I'm also new.

I find I fold a lot more than I play 40% sounds about right...but I am definatly no expert.

[sa11y69]

mmmm...i dont know how to fold!! probably y i'm so skint lol

[Smoneen]

you need to start looking at hand odds against pot odds. when you start working these you you'll see that you won't really play more than 40% of hands (if the amount you payed in to play the hand is greater than your hand odds then theres no point of playing). Look for a useful poker calculator on the web, there usually free to download, useful for working out the odds. There is a link for a calculator on the main website page (before you go into the lobby) but there are better ones out there.

[gavknox]

Depends realy, If you are playing against alot of loose players, it might be better to tighten up, and only raise when you have a premium hand (AA-kk-QQ-JJ-1010-Ak-AQ-AJ-KQ-KJ)

However, against alot of tighter players, you should open up your game more, and start raising their blinds with alot less, such as K10, Q10, J10 or even low-ish suited conectors.

Hope this helps

[Chucknasty43]

i fold around 80 percent of my hands

[Andy2cu]

Yeah I think thats a great Idea

[jockney]

I'd be interested to know what % I did fold, but my guess is it would be higher than 50%

[Uyto]

I think I fold 70-75 % of my hands
play 60 % of your hand is not a great idea

[MrsBobbyB]

lol, I think I play way too much then.. but I have a hard time not at least seeing the flop.

[Ayumi]

The % of me folding really depend on what cover cards i got for that day. On a good day I might fold 30% of the time, but on unluck days I find myself folding 70% of the time.

[DragonLady1]

I fold almost 60% of my hands. But sometimes I'm bold when I should fold!

[finglas2k7]

id say i play about 50% but i always wana c d flop wit low suited connectors..

[BlackLava]

In my opinion it will depend of the players themselves and number of players at the table at first!
With ten players you don't know, for sure you should play no more than 20% of your starting hands or even less.
If you're playing 5 players only and known ones you could play up to 40% of your starting hands but only in special cases and if you are good enough to handle average hands hitting risky flops, if you aren't experienced then just follow same rule : Play only best hands (=20%).
Playing heads up is something different too, you will have to play a LOT more hands offcourse there, much more a matter of experience and poker feeling!

[sourgrapes]

I have to say when playing tournys, the first few rounds when the blinds and calls are low it is better to see a flop. It is suprising what may come from a seemingly poor starting hand. As the blinds, calls go up you have to be more selective in what hands you play.

[Danzi]

Depends on cards but i agree with 40% average. If cards are not good i will fold almost every time. 10 players in average 20-30%. 5 players depends on my stack and cards if stack is big i will wait for good hand and raise big because you guys like too call lololololololololololololololol. If stack is low i will also wait for good hand and not raise big. In average 5 players 40-50%.

[dragon_man]

i just try and play every hand

[Smashworth]

As a very general rule, I think 40% is too high. Maybe it's good in the World Series of Poker where every player is an expert, but here at the site, there's always some lucky person who stays in for no reason and gets the 1/13 river that wrecks me.

So only play if you're very sure you can win the hand. That means a lot of folding, like 4 out of 5 hands or more.

[EurekaKid]

I'm going to make the assumption that you are talking about no limit hold 'em here and that you are playing at a table with 6-10 people at it. NLHE is all about playing in position, it is as simple as that. Therefore, you should be looking to play as many hands as profitably possible from late position and playing very tight from early position and out of the blinds. Your minimum entry requirements into a hand is dependent on numerous factors, like the composition of player types at your table, what the action is in front of you and the hand you are actually holding.

I really don't want to post a starting hand guide, because there really are a lot of factors to be considered each time you play a hand. However, here is a rough guide to hands you should be playing when it is folded to you...

Early position: Big pairs pairs, AK
Midle position: Medium and big pairs, big aces, big suited broadway
Late position: All pairs, big aces, suited connectors, suited and unsuited big broadway

I also suggest that whenever you are first to enter a pot, that you raise 4x the BB.

[stjimmy]

big tourneys i fold 90% of the time. im alot more aggresive on the ring tables.