Fast Fold Poker Strategy
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Fast-fold poker is now one of the most popular way to play cash games online. Playing more tables was once the only way to increase your volume as a cash game player. Fast-fold poker makes it possible to play many more hands per hour than a standard table.
The most-taught strategy for Fast Fold Poker players is fold fold fold fold. Strategists all over the Internet suggest playing nothing less than pocket queens. What that says to me is steal steal steal steal. When you have Those Salty Nuts – Snatch the Sugar! Fast Fold Poker is all about adrenaline. If you have the nuts in a hand, bet big. Your Preflop Hand Is Trash. This may seem obvious to poker players with a lot of experience. Fast-fold poker was invented to get around this wasted time issue. It does this in a novel way. Instead of sitting at a poker table, you join a pool or group of players – one for each buy-in level. You’ll go to a table, and things will look normal, until you hit the fold button. Fast-Fold Poker Strategy. You pretty much know what fast-fold poker is and where.
What Is Fast-Fold Poker?
Full Tilt Poker was the first online poker site to launch fast-fold poker. It called this new, fast-paced game Rush Poker. Other sites quickly followed suit and launched their own variants. PokerStars calls theirs Zoom, partypoker’s is known as fastforward, and Americas Cardroom has Blitz Poker. The concepts are the same regardless of what they’re called.
The rules are the same in fast-fold poker as they are at a standard cash game table. There is a major difference, however, a difference that makes it possible to play vastly more hands per hour.
A typical six-max cash game table sees you seated at one table with five opponents. These opponents remain the same for as long as they are willing to play. Fast-fold differs in that you still sit on a table with opponents, but your table and foes change after every hand.
You’re part of a pool of players. You’re whisked away to a new table with different opponents whenever you fold. It’s even possible to fold out of turn. Click the fold button and be instantly transferred to a new table, receive a new pair of hole cards, and lock horns with different players.
The speed of fast-fold games differs per site, but it’s widely regarded as being four-times faster than a standard table. It should be easy to see why these cash games are becoming increasingly popular with grinders.
Some Fast-Fold Strategy and Tips
These exciting cash games follow the same hand rankings as a “normal” table but you need to adopt a slightly different strategy if you want to beat fast-fold poker games.
Be aware fast-fold players tend to play a much tighter style. This is because players no longer have to wait for premium hands in these games. They can continue folding until they find a playable hand staring back at them.
You still find opponents who spew their stacks off with weak hands, but they’re fewer in numbers. Don’t expect a player to dust off their chips with Ts-3c because they’ve grown bored of waiting for a hand.
This leads to fast-fold poker having less bluffing than a traditional game. Players play a more straightforward ABC style at these tables, betting when they have a hand and check-folding when they don’t. They don’t want to waste time making a play when they can fold and be dealt into a new hand. Bluffing still occurs, it’s just less frequent.
It’s more difficult to get reads on opponents in fast-fold games because you don’t sit with the same ones often. This is especially true in lower stakes game where player pool is large. Still take notes on opponents, just be prepared to alter those notes over time. Likewise, any stats displayed on your HUD take much longer to be accurate.
What Style Should You Adopt?
The answer to this question, like most poker-related questions, is it depends. Find a style of play you feel comfortable with first and foremost. Then and only then should you start mixing your play up.
Poker players tend to enjoy more success adopting a style of play the opposite of their opponents. Play tighter against loose players, and looser against tight players.
Consider some of the points above like unable to get reads, tighter hand selection, and less bluffing. I’m not saying start playing crazy like Viktor Blom, but certainly loosen up. Your opponents will give your raises more respect because they expect you to fold most hands. Coming in for a raise in most positions with suited connectors and all pairs is a good place to start.
Fast-fold players love to steal the blinds from late position because they blinds are more likely to fold. Be prepared to defend your blinds with a three-bet against habitual stealers.
Fast Fold Poker Strategy Game
Finally, be careful about how many fast-fold tables you play. You’ll likely see 300+ hands per hour per table. Sure, you’ll be folding a lot but this is four times faster than a standard game. Firing up only four fast-fold tables is the equivalent of 16 standard tables!