I know this concept my sound very contrary to some but there are times when laying down the best hand is the correct play to make. Over and over again we all have been told to get your chips in with the best hand. I happen to agree with that and I am sure most of you do too. However, there are circumstances that will turn up at the poker table that will put you in awkward positions that almost force you to call with the best hand.

What are they?

Well, I am speaking of poker tournaments to be exact. Early on in a poker tournament I simply do not want to call all of my stack when someone is drawing at a flush after the flop. I can always out play the flush chasers and pick a better spot in the early levels. This means that laying down top pair or even top two pair in the first couple of levels when faced with an all-in tournament decision is not necessarily that bad of a play. Why allow them to get lucky on you when you can wait it out, continue to accumulate chips, and nail them later on with a better board?

That doesn’t mean that you do this every single time you are confronted. On the contrary, you need to really understand whom you are playing against AND your own ability before you consider this kind of move. Remember, most of the time your opponent is going to miss their draws. However, late in tournaments when the weaker players are pretty much gone you may still lay down the best hand when faced with aggression from an opponent that has a stack as large as yours if you are near the Final Table.

For me once I am at the Final Table there is no folding the best hand but early on there are exceptions to this rule. That doesn’t make it right or wrong but simply a conscious choice I make as the situations unfold. Again, this is not an all of the time type of play but one that should be a small part of your poker strategy and approch to the game.