06-22-2002, 01:03 AM
There are all types of "folding styles" in poker. There is the "reluctant fold" where you really want to call but know you shouldn't. There is the "routine fold" where you don't want to call so you just muck with no remorse. There is the "bullet fold" where you hate your hand so much you don't even want to look at it so you toss it quickly into the muck (sometimes the velocity of the toss causes the cards to turn over). Today, I discovered (invented) a new folding style: The Sympathy Fold. This occurs when a pal of yours has been losing all day and then finally catches a hand to raise (or reraise) with (usually it's AA or KK cuz he's afraid anything else will lose). One of the primary characteristics of the "sympathy fold" is that you fold a "legitimate" calling hand which you would normally play with no guilt were it not for your concern about sucking out on your beaten up pal. Here's what happened in my game today. It was a grinding 20-40 full of a few tiltable regulars (one lady was up for 2 days, some players were calling with Ax (in any position for any reason), some players were pissed off and throwing cards, another guy wanted to "open someone's nose" (yikes), Babe was losing after winning, and the hero (Jim) was getting second best and just kinda drifting into a black hole of frustration. To make it worse, Jim was sitting to the right of a lady (half his size by the way) who kept elbowing him, restacking her chips and recounting her hundreds over and over. To add insult to injury, she was winning 2 racks in the game and our hero was struggling to hit a flop! So, now we get a little "action" in the game and there are 5 preflop callers to Jim who raises on the button. Hmmmm.. Surely this means only one thing: AA. I'm in the BB with K,Jd. I look at Jim and I look at the chips in the pot and I look at Jim again and I say, "you know...I could actually call that raise". "There is alot of money in that pot and I am really tempted" (I knew the 5 limpers would all call). I stare blankly into space for another 3-4 seconds...and then, I fold my hand and say something like "no, go ahead Jim". /images/smile.gif I was more concerned about giving him a "chance" to finally hit something than I was about trying to win the pot for myself! After the hand we laughed hysterically about my new folding style and Jim labeled it "the Sympathy fold". We agreed that we had seen many wacky things during our poker sessions, but this was an original move, for sure! /images/biggrin.gif A true "sympathy" fold must have the following characteristics: 1) You must have a calling hand; 2) The pot/implied odds must be attractive; 3) You must like the person you are folding to; 4) The person you are folding to must be losing; and 5) You normally would call if it weren't for the "sympathy" factor overriding your play at the moment. Touching, isn't it? Next fold, please...... Babe