You can limit freezing to a minimum by letting the game save after each hand before pressing the button to advance to the next hand. Playing offline not connected to the internet also limits lag & freezing.
As far as skipping parts of the game, you can but it's very limited. At times you can by pressing the button. This only works when the isn't a hand being played & the other characters are just talking before the next hand is delt.
I know this isn't much to go on, but this is all I can offer on this issue