Survivor's guide to a bad beat
Whether you become successful in turning a profit from poker or play the game
for the fun and excitement to be had, you will do well to learn how to survive
a bad beat.
In monetary terms (assuming you are playing a cash table) you can survive a
bad beat by not committing your entire poker bankroll with less than
the absolute nuts. Absolute nuts means, the best
possible hand from the cards played as well as the cards that may come later
in the hand.
To survive a bad beat playing a hand less that the nuts, only commit the amount
you are willing to lose. Good
bankroll
management is always important; bad beats happen too often to risk
your entire poker bankroll on a single hand.
Worse than the monetary side is the mental effect of a bad beat; this is really
where these words are aimed.
Players of varying abilities from the best to the worst have the same chance
of experiencing a bad beat. A less skilled player may issue a few more beats
than an experienced player, but both should learn to survive a bad beat.
Being real blunt; suck it up. Do not cry like a six year old girl who
has dropped her ice cream; and do not resort to insulting the other
player, their skill... or lack of.
Moaning about a bad beat means you waste the opportunity to incorporate the
knowledge gained from that hand (even if that knowledge is your opponent is
an idiot) and will limit the attention you pay to the current hand (the
important one). Moaning inwardly or outwardly may also prevent you surviving
the bad beat by putting you on tilt, soon encouraging an agricultural play of
your own that is not your chosen style.
To survive a bad beat, take a moment to reflect on the play; consider, was there
something you could have done to limit your loss; should you have played the hand
differently and were you the perfect player in this occurrence.
If you feel you had made the correct play, then congratulate yourself on getting
your chips into the pot with the best hand, knowing that your skill out-played
your opponent and luck out-played you. Understand if you keep making correct
plays, you will keep suffering bad beats; however, overall you will win more
than you lose.
As you are a skilled player;
-
you want the lesser hand to be in the pot against you, otherwise you
will not earn
-
you will get your chips into the pot with the better
hand or better drawing hand more often than you will with the lesser hand
-
you will assess if you are in front or have a reasonable chance to
take the lead in a hand considering the betting to your potential gain
-
you must accept that at times you will be overtaken and if
appropriate fold before losing more chips
-
you too will make a wrong call, get lucky and issue a
bad beat yourself
That is the way of a game that involves luck; in short, you win
some - you lose some.
Focus on the ones which go in your favour, as much as the ones that
go against you. And if you are seriously thinking as you read this,
“I wish one would go my way, they all seem to go against me.” Then you
will do well to examine your play in all these cases or ask yourself,
"do I really lose every hand to a bad beat."
You know you are a better player than most, and because of that your
overall skill will come through… in the end.
To win a big pot someone has to gamble, over the course of a poker day,
month, year, or career, the one who gambles the least and assesses correctly
the most, will win more chips, more often.
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