Fold
Folding is a way of declaration by a player that s/he is no longer interested in the current round or pot. Once a player has decided to fold, s/he forfeits any amount that they have put into the pot till that point in the round and cannot win anything as their cards are discarded and placed in a separate discard pile.
The discard pile, known as the muck or the deadwood, receives all the cards held by the player facedown. At no point are other people in the game aware of the cards that that particular player has received. When a player decides to fold, s/he may do so by either declaring “Fold” or by simply placing the cards facedown on the felt and pushing them towards the discard pile or the dealer.
In the United Kingdom, a player’s folded cards are handed over to the dealer who in turn shows the other players what they were, by placing them face up on the table before throwing them into the discard pile. Folding is also considered the best way to cut losses especially when players realize that their opponents probably have better cards than they do.
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