The deliberate action out of turn will remain in the pot even if the intervening player raises in front of them. The out of turn player can call, or surrender their bet and fold. The option to raise will be taken away. 29.4 Any out of turn action may seriously disrupt the flow of the game. Accidental raising is when a player feigns an attempt to call, but instead throws out way too many chips, or chips of the wrong denomination, committing them to a raise. As a result, players behind them might think they are capitalizing on the player’s apparent mistake by either calling with a marginal hand or re-raising to steal the pot.

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I was recently told about a poker hand from a $2-$5 no-limit hold’em cash game that illustrates a critical error that many players make on a regular basis. A somewhat tight, passive player raised to $15 out of his $500 effective stack from middle position, and our Hero called on the button with K J.

I am fine with Hero’s preflop call. Suited Broadway cards can call a reasonably sized preflop raise in most situations. If Hero instead had K J, however, he should either three-bet to about $45 or fold, opting to fold most of the time due to the opponent’s tight, passive tendencies. You usually only want to call in position with hands that have the potential to make strong post-flop hands. Suited hands fit in this category because they will occasionally make a flush.

Everyone else folded, and the flop came K 8 5, giving Hero top pair. The opponent bet $30 into the $37 pot and Hero decided to raise to $100.

On the flop, Hero should definitely call. Notice that the only terrible turn card is an ace. Hero does not have to worry about 7-6 making a straight because most tight, passive players do not raise 7-6 suited from middle position. If the opponent does happen to have a hand like pocket queens through pocket nines, he is almost drawing dead. So, there is no need at all to raise for protection.

If Hero raises, many of the hands that he beats will fold, but if he calls, he forces his opponent to stay in the pot with many inferior hands, allowing him to make costly errors on the turn and river. Most importantly, when Hero happens to have the worst hand, calling will usually result in him losing less because the pot will be smaller.
The opponent re-raised all-in for $485 total.

At this point, it should be clear that Hero is in bad shape. I would be shocked if his opponent did not show one of K-K, 8-8, 5-5, A-A, or A-K essentially every time. When a generally straightforward player is clearly trying to get their stack in on the flop, you can be confident they have a premium made hand.

Hero decided to call (which is a terrible mistake) and lost to his opponent’s 8-8 for middle set.

After this hand, Hero was annoyed that he got “unlucky” that his opponent flopped three of a kind. In reality, Hero should have simply called the flop and turn, and likely folded to a third bet on the river from the tight, passive opponent.

While Hero is certainly going to lose some money in this situation, he lost way more than was necessary. If Hero called a $30 flop bet and a $75 turn bet, he would have lost $105 more. As played, he ended up losing his entire $485 stack.

When you have a marginal made hand (usually top pair with a marginal kicker, middle pair, bottom pair, or ace high), you should look to control the size of the pot. If the pot remains manageable, your marginal made hand is usually best, but if a significant amount of money goes into the pot, marginal made hands are usually in bad shape. ♠

Jonathan Little is a professional poker player and best-selling poker author with more than $7 million in live tournament earnings. If you want to learn how to play fundamentally sound poker and increase your win rate, check out PokerCoaching.com. Click here to try PokerCoaching.com for free.

If you fold your hand in poker, you lay down your cards and stop playing the hand. A fold can happen at any point in the play when it is your turn to act. Folding in poker means you are out for that hand. You no longer will have any claim on the pot and you won't be required to put more money into the pot for that hand. It's also known as lay down and muck.

The Right Way to Fold

When playing at a poker table, you should wait until it is your turn to act before you fold. While you may have been dealt poor cards and you would love to toss them in immediately, you need to be patient and wait for the other players ahead of you to fold, call, or raise. If you make your fold out of turn you will earn the disapproval of the others at the table as you are giving information to those who have the action before you. Those who had yet to act on the hand will know there is one less person to call and add to the pot or with the potential of raising the pot further. This can affect their decision to call, raise, or fold.

Raising Out Of Turn Poker Room

Raising Out Of Turn Poker Games

If you're playing online, you can often program the action in when you view your cards, but at a live table, you need to wait.

Place the cards face down and, out of courtesy to the dealer, slide them forward enough so the dealer can easily rake them into the muck pile. You may also say 'fold' or 'I fold' verbally before you discard your cards face down. Once you indicate a fold, you can't change your mind and re-enter the hand.

You should not expose your cards to the other players when you fold. Don't get fancy with your tossing action and risk one flipping to be exposed. If you do this more than once you are likely to get a further admonishment from the dealer.

It also is unusual to fold rather than check if you have the option to check, such as after the flop, turn, or river. Usually, you would check and then fold if there is a raise.

Raising Out Of Turn Poker Card Game

The Hero Fold

Raising Out Of Turn Poker Tournaments

If you are folding on the final play of the hand, such as after the river cards have been dealt and your opponents have made all of the plays they can make, some players might expose one or both cards to show they have made a hero fold. For example, the river card has been dealt and you are in the hand with only one other opponent, who goes all-in. You decide it's time to fold 'em because you know they are a tight player and it's likely you will lose the hand. But you're holding a decent hand and you decide to turn over cards when you fold to show what you had. In this case, you won't get an admonishment from the dealer because you aren't giving information to any player who still has action in the hand.