When Fast Fold Poker hit the market in 2010 it revolutionized the way online poker was played. No longer did recreational players need multiple tables if single table action was too slow.
Fast Fold Poker also allowed players to put in enormous amounts of volume nearing 1k hands/hr on 4 tables. Similarly, because of this volume it is imperative that you have a good rakeback deal.
Fast Fold Poker has since spread across the internet, with most major networks offering their own version.
While theoretically cash games are cash games, Fast Fold Poker Strategy is slightly different based on the attitudes and playing styles of the people who play it.
Know your opponents
Because you won’t have extensive history with players in Fast Fold Poker games, you will need to quickly identify the fish and make notes.
Did a player do something really dumb, or really good? Is someone playing like an obvious fish, or multi-tabling with large stacks? Note down who the regulars and fish are, and play appropriately.
Having good notes on your opponents is crucial in fast-fold poker.
It’s also crucial to have an efficient HUD. You will want to set your stats to show the sample size, so that you can make good judgments without overly trusting samples that are too small to be reliable.
In separate articles, we have discussed how to use of tracking software and Hold’em Manager 2.
Having a good HUD is essential, but remember not to trust small sample sizes too much.
Similarly, because you are playing against a pool of players, it’s important to understand the tendencies of the pool.
Before you have a good read on an opponent, you should play a solid, GTO as a base, making reasonable adjustments to be exploitative against the typical player of the pool.
In general, people will tend to fold easily (since they can just move onto the next hand) and try to make nutted hands (flushes, sets, strong pairs) to stack you.
Understand your anonymity
Because many fast-fold poker players don’t have a history with you, the optimal fast fold poker strategy can be different. You can get away with certain things that you couldn’t against ring-game regulars. Why? Because to most players, you won’t really have an image.
In large pools, the most +EV fast fold poker strategy does not require a perfectly balanced range. Don’t get me wrong, a solid unexploitable GTO strategy will always make you money. But you’ll always want to be maximally exploitative whenever you can.
If you notice some players are folding all their BBs to steals, then pound them incessantly from the BU and SB. Because of your relatively anonymity, they will have a harder time changing their defending strategy to counter you.
Since you’ll be stealing with a wider range, your open sizes should be low. Keep it to 2x, or 2.5x. Your 3bet resteal sizes can also be lower at 7x-9x max.
Similarly, Cbet with a wider range and smaller bet-sizing to exploit fit-or-fold opponent’s.
Remember – in fast fold poker you can often play as if you are anonymous.
Bluff more, fold more
What adjustments should you be making?
Well, remember that people can just insta-fold any hand. That means that people are less likely to stick around with garbage, so you should be tighter with your call-down range and tighter with your 3barrel value range.
Similarly, you should try to find more good spots to bluff, steal and resteal since people will just toss their crap hands into the muck and move on to the next hand. People don’t feel as “married” to their hands in fast-fold.
Dodge landmines, people will be setmining and waiting for the nuts – don’t fall for it!
Conclusion
A solid understanding of Fast Fold Poker Strategy will allow you to cash in huge profits. The ability to put in huge amounts of volume means that any player with a decent winrate can earn huge hourly profits.
Because of the volume you’ll be playing, it’s especially important to have an excellent rakeback deal. Luckily for you, we offer the industry’s top deals on partners with some of the best fast fold games on the internet.
To maximize your profits playing fast fold poker, we encourage you to check our deals on:
- Party Network (Party Poker, Bwin Poker)
- iPoker.com (Coral Poker, Winner Poker Review, Netbet Poker, Betfair Poker, William Hill Poker, Mybet Poker)
- Microgaming Network (Betsafe Poker, Nordicbet Poker, Betsson Poker, Triobet Poker).