found a problem

[AlamedaMike]

I think that I have found a problem that is hurting my profits, such that there are.

When I have a very good hand on the flop and the turn card is bad I hate to release my hand. I release my hand less often than I now think that I should. i.e I do not fold often enough.

I really think one skill that is useful in low limit nofold'em hold'em is knowing when to release you and hand and actually doing it.

This is an example and I am not sure if it actually played poorly or not - this is from a limit hold'em 6/12 live full ring game with 9 players - the game is currently running a little dead - 3-4 to the flop for no raise.

I pick up UTG and raise. I get called from a player (OTB) that playes 90% of his hands, raised or not and will call with any pair and any draw, bet top pair, and raise with anything better. The other player (SB) in the hand plays less hands and plays better.

They both call me and the flop is good for me.

SB bets and I raise, OTB thinks and calls. The Turn is a . I do not like this card because it is an over card. SB checks, so I bet, OTB ponders and calls, SB calls.

River is the , SB checks, I bet, OTB folds, and SB goes into the tank and ponders. After a bit he finally calls and I show my jacks not expecting them to hold up. He shows for top two.

Side note: he jumps up and down saying 'I knew it', well if he knew it he could have saved me some chips by betting his hand on the turn. I think that he put me on AA or KK and the 4 now killed his hand. I am known to play good cards.

Back to my problem. I just have this psychological issue that once I have a good hand that turns bad I don't want to fold. I know the money in the pot is not mine, that is not the issue, it is just I got this great hand that has turned to trash, which will happen more often as not.

I need to look at the board on the turn or river to see if my hand is still good. If not fold it. Sometiems it is hard to do.

--------------- I did fold this hand but did not like to --------------

in the BB and on the turn the board was () - I had 6 outs on the flop and on the turn my hand died a sudden death. I checked and folded but I missed my pretty hand. The river was a and the won.

Any cogent advice? See a shrink? Re-read the Poker Mindset? Will TPM help with this issue or do I just need to recognize poker reality that it will happen more often than not and save a few chips here and there?

[nukeduke]

You're right, most players don't fold enough. Pot size and opponents have everything to do with the decisions though. Hand 1 you are just value betting IMO -- when the SB checked the river I don't think you can assume he has you beat with a queen. The loosy goosy player may call your bet with less than top pair so I think that hand is ok. If the SB raised the turn that's where you have to let it go, especially since he is now a proven weak/nit type (at least against you).

Hand 2 - If the pot is big enough I may call a river bet if I am closing the action. Probably a good fold but you didn't give a lot of info on how many players, pot size etc. Again, I probably would fold a lot here too but, I can find a call in the right circumstance.

I think the saying goes "You should look for reasons to fold on the flop and turn but, look for reasons to call on the river" I think I got that right. I also think that in live games that are even slightly passive it is ok to stick around and see a showdown. I've played quite a few live hands with Nside in the last 6 months and I can tell you that he doesn't fold a lot of hands that were good enough to enter the pot to begin with. I can't speak for him - just an observation.

[AlamedaMike]

[Piemaster]

I find the turn a bit difficult too. As Nuke says, on the flop find an excuse to fold, on the river find an excuse to call. The turn is a bit of a halfway house, especially against aggressive players where you have to go to showdown a lot more or get run over.

[AlamedaMike]

[AlamedaMike]