When do I fold?

[beetlegauss]

Once I receive my hole cards, how do I decide whether or not I should fold? I've been lurking around the forums for a few days, and I know that pair kings and aces are never folded except in rare cases of strong reads (I read Geno's post). However, getting those two pairs is pretty unlikely, so how should I decide whether or not to go ahead with my hand?

By the way, my name is Arthur, 18 from NYC, and I've just started playing about two weeks ago.

[MrDarling]

welcome to the forum.

search the web for Holdem starting hands. As a beginner I recommend playing only the top 10 hands, until you get used to the game.
Ignore everything you see on TV.

Good luck.

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

I'm not sure this topic can ever be adequately dealt with, at least not for No Limit.

If you're talking about Limit, there are several books from 2+2 that provide excellent preflop standards.

I think it helps to think of preflop standards as conceptual rather than structural.

1. The later position you're in, the more hands you can play.
2. The deeper the stacks are, the greater the implied odds to call with hands like suited connectors and small pairs (implied odds means that you can potentially win a lot later in the hand for a small investment early in the hand). Conversely, smaller stacks make these respective hands less attractive.
3. The smaller the stacks, the more likely and effective the "all in" bet becomes both as a semi-bluff and for value.
4. The more inexperienced you are, the tighter you should probably play. It helps to keep it simple when you're first starting out. Try to avoid calling raises with speculative hands like KQ and AJ (when there is a lot of money to go in after the flop), where you might be in trouble even if you flop top pair. Hands like pocket pairs, AK, and AQ are much better to call raises with when you're a beginner, because the flop will usually give you a pretty good idea of the relative strength of your hand.

[beetlegauss]

Ah, thanks for all the tips! I googled and found a site with the top 10 hands and am also considering following their advice of the hands to raise/call with, specifically things like 99, 88, Ax(s), since playing 1 out of roughly 17 hands kills a bit of the fun.

Also, after getting info on these starting hands, I'm wondering how likely it is to get straights? Is the idea here to scare off all the lower potential straights right before the flop? Should I fold something like a 23?

[LeeG]

Connectors lower than 4/5 are pure trash.

With 2/3 you only have 2 straights you can make. A 4 5 or 4 5 6 and only the first one is the nut straight.

With 6/7 you can flop 3 4 5, 4 5 8, and 5 8 9 to have the nuts or 8 9 T to have the dog end.

Any straight that you have when holding a J T will be the best possible (assuming both hole cards are used) 789, 89Q, 9QK and QKA.

Remember though, that post flop play is much more nuanced than pre-flop play.