Well it would be great if there were certain cards that should never be folded and if your dealt Ace Ace or King King or even Queen Queen then you could be forgiven for thinking these cards or those. Im my opinion there are not really any cards that you can be dealt before the flop that you cant fold. Its just so hard to make yourself lay a big hand down when a lot of times you know your beat - AQ is a hand people find hard to throw away but so many lose big with it and some of the greats like Doyle Brunson say they fold it when they get it.

Here lies our second bit of top info - to be a successful poker player whether online or offline you have to be able to fold good cards. More often than not when I am cursing lady luck for a recent bad run of games if I retrace my steps then half the hands i will have lost will be down to an inability to drop good cards to the floor.

As an example your dealt Ace King and you raise the pot by a decent amount to flush out the hangers on and to be left with hopefully someone holding an A7 which seems to be a hand that some people just wont fold. After your raise most are gone and its down to you and a guy you know only bets on the flop if he has made something.

The flop comes and it reads 2 5 7

Your thinking damn no Ace and no King but I may still hold the high card and even if this guy has made a pair then I have a good chance of bluffing him out thinking i hold a higher pair. He bets big what do you do?

The amount of people who will go all in here is amazing - thats not what you should do. Maybe they think that a big bet will scare the other person off or there luck will come or even that they might win Ace high ( whats Ace high )

Its not happening , here is where your patience comes in - yes its a shame your Ace or King didnt come and yes in your head you know you played a good hand but do you want to risk your continuation in the tournament with no pair against a guy who more than likely has made on the flop?

Put it this way if he has been playing straight all the time and he called your raise it is more likely he has pocket pairs and has just flopped trips - unless AA or KK come on the turn and river then you are gone so let you patience kick in accept the loss of your raise and fold your cards - there will be other better opportunities and you have played well so you can be proud of that.