Chad Batista died at the age of 35 a few days ago. Once the top online tournament player in the world, we remember him through one of the greatest folds ever made in poker.

1. Best Poker Fold Ever Best
2. Best Poker Fold Ever Happy
3. Best Poker Fold Ever Wins
4. Best Poker Fold Ever Throw

See full list on upswingpoker.com. Dec 18, 2018 Best fold ever? After seeing Negreanu’s impressive fold live yesterday, we decided to go deep into the theory streets to see if it was “GTO Approved” see for yourself After seeing Negreanu’s impressive fold live yesterday, we decided to go deep into the theory streets to see if it was “GTO Approved” see for yourself.

• Best poker quotes that you should know! Some poker phrases left a meaningful impact over the years and now are so famous that almost all poker players have heard it once or twice over their careers. If you are not sure what I am talking about, take a look at the best poker quotes!
• The hand in question in the video above, however, took place on Day 1 when Negreanu was played at the featured table on PokerGO. Negreanu himself called it his best fold ever, but what do you think? Let us know on Twitter or in the comments of the YouTube video. Read the full hand in the Poker Central Live Reporting by clicking the link below.

Chad ‘lilholdem954’ Batista died at the age of 35 on August 20. At the peak of the online poker boom, Chad was the number one tournament player in the world.

PocketFives’ online tournament rankings had him in the top spot from August 22, 2007 to July 2, 2008.

There’s no better way for the poker world to remember him, than to look back at just one example of his extraordinary prowess on the felt.

An Incredible Fold

During the 2006 WSOP Circuit event at Caesars Indiana Casino, Chad made one of the best folds in poker history – not for the trivial reason of having a read on his opponent, but for strategic reasons which only the greatest of players could calculate.

Chad was in the big blind, with a top three chip stack, and one player to go before the payouts began. In this bubble situation, Chad was at his best. For the preceding dozen hands, he had been using his big chip stack to bully the table, opening with any two cards, raising early openers, and pushing them off their hands post-flop.

The table short-stack was in the small blind, and shoved all in with less than 7 big blinds. Chad looked at his cards to find {Qh}{Qs}. Only one player in a thousand could find a fold in this spot.

Chad realised that if he called, the likelihood would be that he would burst the bubble and bust the short-stacked player out of the tournament.

He weighed up the advantages of adding a few more chips to his stack vs keeping the bubble alive for as long as possible so he could exploit the other players’ fear of busting out before the money. Then he folded!

From that hand on, he continued his aggressive play and added almost 30 big blinds to build a monster stack before the bubble finally burst.

He went on to win the tournament, the WSOP Circuit ring, and prize money of $262,002. An awesome display of the advantage a skilled player can have over players with less commitment to playing a perfect game.

On the Online Felt

I’ll add my own favourite memory of Chad. Late one evening, on the bubble of a $109 freezout tournament on PokerStars, Chad was sat two seats to my right, and he started to shove all in with every single hand, literally any two cards were enough for him.

He was called twice, both times by big pairs, and his garbage hands both managed to win, giving him one of the biggest stacks in the event. We had played at the same online table many times and I posted something like, “OK, abuse the bubble, but aren’t you kicking the arse out of it?”

His response; “I’m falling asleep, I’ve played about 30 tournaments today and this is my last one. I want to win it or go to bed.”

Second was not good enough for Chad, he played every event to win – something every player says, but when push comes to shove, few players have the courage to play the necessary strategy. Chad was one of the few. He will be greatly missed.

Thanks to Italian siteAssopokerfor reminding us of this great hand.

By Joss Wood Rakeback.com Content Manager

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Sometimes, even when you have a good draw, you have to make a tight fold. I know from experience, including one spot in the 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event where I folded a draw in a tough spot.

The hand took place in the 2,000/4,000/4,000 level when I was sitting with 88K (22 BBs) and the in the big blind. The player in the lojack raised to 8,000 and the player on the button called. Right off the bat, we had to face a decision after a raise and call – should we go all in or call?

I actually think jamming all in is the best play if I think I have any sort of fold equity. That said, both these players were tight-aggressive, so chances are they have stronger hands and would be more inclined to call a shove. As such, I am more inclined to just call the raise and see a flop.

Had they folded, I would’ve check-raised all in, but the problem became if either player had a king, they’d never fold to my raise.

That’s what I did and the flop fell , giving me a flush draw. I am not going to have a leading range in this spot ever, so I checked and the original raiser continued for 9,000. The button called and I didn’t like to see that. Had they folded, I would’ve check-raised all in, but the problem became if either player had a king, they’d never fold to my raise. Facing a bet and a call, it seemed likely I was up against a king.

The button player here should only continue with either a good draw, such as a flush draw better than mine or made hands like a pair of sevens or better. Given he’s a TAG player, he shouldn’t have a lot of sevens in his range, while a king is much more likely.

Best Poker Fold Ever Best

Facing the bet and call, I think we should call instead of jamming, which is what I do. The turn was the and two checks saw the player on the button bet 25,000. Would the button randomly be betting here with a weak hand? I think the answer is definitely not.

Best Poker Fold Ever Happy

With 71,000 in my stack, I don’t really have a lot of fold equity if I go all in as he’d only have to call 46K more. As such, I needed to either call or fold. It was basically a breakeven proposition for me to call – I have an 18% chance of making my flush and need to win 19-20% of the time to make it worthwhile – but what about implied odds?

If I make the flush and jam, my opponent could very well fold. Or, if they did call, they could easily have a hand like or for a better flush. It played out in a manner that those hands are very possible. It’s also possible the lojack could be trapping with a set. I doubt it, but it’s possible.

It all added up to this was a hand that I think I had to have the immense discipline to fold, which I did. The lojack folded too and we never got to see what the button had, unfortunately.

For a more thorough breakdown of this hand, check out my thoughts in the following video:

Best Poker Fold Ever Wins

Jonathan Little is a professional poker player and author with over $7,000,000 in live tournament earnings. He writes a weekly educational blog and hosts a podcast at JonathanLittlePoker.com. Sign up to learn poker from Jonathan for free at PokerCoaching.com. You can follow him on Twitter @JonathanLittle.

Best Poker Fold Ever Throw

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