When You Can Fold

This is not a column telling you to get out of the pot when you are beaten and have little hope of improving. Rather, I would like to talk about how the fold is treated in poker law and ethics.

When can you fold? A basic poker rule is that a fold out of turn is not allowed. Even though no penalty is prescribed by law, it is clearly a breach of ethics, and a habitual violator may be barred for this behavior.

The textbook example of why folding out of turn is improper conduct is the situation in a threehanded pot in which the first player bets, the middle player is thinking, and the last player throws his hand away. A player is more likely to call when he knows there are just he and the bettor left, and it is up to him to stop a thief from stealing the cookies. The bettor running a bluff is rightfully irate when the backstop mucks a hand out of turn. Of course, the bettor should try to keep a poker face until the remaining player acts – but then some irate language may well be spewed at the violator.

Can you fold in turn if you wish? (This question assumes you are not facing a bet, since it is obviously OK to decide not to put any more money into the pot.) I once heard a great poker player opine, "I don't see anything wrong with a fold if you're acting in turn." My opinion is different. A basic poker axiom is that you are not supposed to favor one opponent over another. I think it is an ethical breach to give one player information and withhold it from another player. For example, showing the player next to you your cards before folding gives him information that is withheld from the other players. That is why we have the rule, "Show one, show all." So, if a player checks and you then fold, those behind you have been given information that was withheld from the player who acted first. Those acting later have been favored.

Here is an exaggerated example (one I have never seen in real life) of how this fold could be damaging to someone else. Suppose that in a fivehanded pot, you act first and check. Player two folds, player three folds, player four folds, and the button bets. Surely, he is more likely to bet here than if the whole field were still in. If he does bet, you do not know if he took advantage of those folds or has a real hand. You have been damaged, and the button helped, by players folding who were not facing a bet. Seeing three players fold makes the damage obvious, but if even one player folds, it is measurable. So, the only logical view of this behavior is that it is bad ethics to fold when not facing a bet if all of the players do not receive the same information on that betting round. By this rule, you can fold if first to act or if last to act, but not otherwise. (I am aware that it is possible to construct a situation in which the previous betting means one player will be helped more than another, even when you fold while acting first or last, but this would be quite unusual.)

One reason I am discussing this situation is that it has an impact on Internet poker. A site has the option of programming the play to prevent a fold out of turn from being revealed to anyone until the player actually faces a bet – an option not used on any poker site that I know of. If you look at the menu presented to the big blind on many sites, when the betting comes back to him, he is given the choice of folding, checking, or raising. Note that if he folds, it does not help one player over another, because the big blind is last to act. However, the programmers give this same menu to other players who are already in for a bet, such as the player in the cutoff seat who has posted a missed blind. If this player folds out of turn, the button and blinds receive information that they are not entitled to. I am of the opinion that folds not facing a bet should be concealed from the other players.

While we are on the subject, I think it is bad programming to shove a pop-up menu into a player's face that has "fold" listed as an option when he is not facing a bet. It is easy to err and fold when you did not have to. When playing Internet poker, one is often multitasking, a big word that could mean things like playing on two sites at once, performing a non-poker computer task while playing, or simply reading a book while waiting to be dealt a playable hand. The point is, even a good player may not be following the play closely and know he is already in. Some sites muck your hand when you hit "fold." Others give you a message that says, "You blockheaded numbskull, you are already in. Are you sure you want to pass up a free chance at the pot?" Of course, they do not actually word it that way, but you are made to feel a little foolish – and play is held up a trifle.

The better way to program an Internet poker site is, never give a player already in for the bet an option to fold on a pop-up menu. Why give the player a chance to err? The pop-up menu should have only the sensible options. There should be a "fold" button (or "check-fold") that the player can use to fold when he has no interest in the hand anymore. Then, he should be folded when he faces a bet, and no sooner. This proper tailoring of the pop-up menu would speed up play, make sure no player is favored over another, and prevent the natural knee-jerk reaction of unnecessarily folding when holding a bad hand.

Editor's note: Bob Ciaffone's latest book, Middle Limit Holdem Poker, co-authored with Jim Brier, is available now (332 pages, $25 plus $6 shipping and handling). This work and his other poker books, Pot-limit and No-limit Poker, Improve Your Poker, and Omaha Holdem Poker, can be ordered through Card Player. Ciaffone is available for poker lessons. E-mail [email protected] or call (989) 792-0884. His website is www.diamondcs.net/~thecoach, where you can download Robert's Rules of Poker for free.