Fold Equity - a little (actually a lot) of help please

[playtitleist]

My biggest weakness is bubble time. Large or small stack I play like a big pink puss. The one positive is, I realize it.

I'd really appreciate any number of responses to this:

Define Fold Equity and how you use it.

Thanks

[lastchance]

Fold Equity is simply the chance your opponent folds and how many chips you get when your opponent does fold.

In the standard vernacular, having a high FE just means you're taking the pot without showing your cards down a lot, and a low FE means you're not taking down the pot often.

High FE = very, very good on the bubble. It's not about showing down AA, it's about picking up t225 with A4, K6, Q3 when the opprotunity presents itself.

[AliasMrJones]

Not quite...FE is the chance that your opponent(s) will fold TIMES the amount of the blinds. In other words your pot equity (usually you're talking about a blind steal so the pot is the blinds) just from the chance that your opponents will fold if you raise/push.

How tight/loose the remaining opponent(s) are, how big your stack is (i.e. how much will it hurt if your opponent(s) call and lose) and how many opponents are left to act are the primary factors to consider.

If you are in the SB with a stack of 1,000 and it is folded to you and the blinds are 100/200 and you think your opponent will call with the top 70% of starting hands if you push your FE is 300 * .7 = 210 chips. If you only have 250 chips in the same position and it is correct for your opponent to call the extra 50 if you push with any 2 cards your FE is 0.

On the bubble it is important to maintain fold equity by keeping your stack size large enough relative to the blinds to make a raise mean something. If your stack gets so small you are offering sufficient pot odds for your opponents to call with a wide variety of hands you lose FE and the ability to steal blinds which you need.

You can also see that if your opponents are at all tight, you have a reasonable stack (particularly if you have your remaining opponents covered) it is +EV to raise/push with a wide variety of hands from the button/SB if it is folded to you.