When a player stayed to river in a Texas hold'em game and won, I asked him, "Was that skill or just stubbornness?" He said, "A little of both." He was a friend, so I had the license to be a little flippant with him. He'd do the same with me. So, I said, "Well, I just think that your stubborn streak just won that pot!" He smiled and both of us realized that luck had its part to do in his win. The question remains though, when is it wise to fold a hand and when is it best to take your chances? Are there any guidelines for this? I know, some of you are saying, "It depends on the pot-odds!" Or, does it come down to how loose and how tight you play the game? It may be as simple as being stubborn with loose players and not so with tight players.
In all the things that you can read, there's no instruction manual on folding. The closest that I have heard is to fold when you think that you are beaten. Whoa! According to whom? Some players never think they are beaten until they show down and are surprised to learn that they stayed in too long. Other players will fold whenever they get raised and fall for obvious bluffs. So, when is it wise to stay and when is it smart to let a hand go? Does it simply come down to knowing your opponents and how they bet, check, and bluff?
What would you do with a player who is pretty tight and you have top pair with a pair of Queens? On the river, out comes an Ace and everyone folds to a bet from this player except one before you. Is he counting on his reputation or did he just beat your pair of Queens? Surely, one of them has you beat. Well, it happened to me and I folded as quickly as I could blink. I wouldn't have with some other players who would have just been buying the pot. Yet, with this player, I was sure he had made his hand. I still wouldn't have called him even if the second player hadn't called. I was sure one of them had an Ace. I just wondered what kept the first bettor in to the river. As it turned out the other player with an Ace who called him made it possible to learn that the winner had Aces over Jacks. So, the middle pair of Jacks kept my friend in to the river. I'm glad that the other Ace called him so I could see what kept him going to the river. A lot of players would have folded with two bets after the Ace appeared. Yet, how many of you would have been stubborn and called with your pair of Queens?
So, being stubborn could help players to win and to lose. If you stayed with your pair of Queens and knew your players, stubbornness would have cost you. Yet, if you know that a player on the button would try to buy a pot, being stubborn would result in a good call and will make you money.
So, rather that asking when it's a good time to fold, perhaps "How well do you use your stubbornness?"
would be a better question to ask. Let's face it, all poker players are stubborn. It's just that some know when to use it and when to lose it. It might be that what we need are guidelines for the playing stubborn poker. For that matter, what do the pot-odds have to be for a player to be stubborn? Or, should you just get stubborn with loose players and lose it with tight ones? I guess there's no simple rule. Besides, if there were, would it be about folding or being stubborn?
