Bad Beats in Poker

I just played a $55 + $5 sit-n-go tournament. We were in the final three and I looked down at Ace Ace in the pocket. The other players were aggressive and I was on the button so I limped in. Sure enough the big blind went all-in. Delighted, I called the all-in for all my tournament chips. The big blind turned over King 5 of diamonds. The flop came and gave me trips with a flop of Ace (d) 3 (d) 7 (h). The turn came as a 6 (c) so it was looking pretty good. Wouldn’t you know it. Like we’ve all seen before, the K 5 sucked out and hit the flush on the river when Queen (d) hit the board.

Who cares when you suffer bad beats? Nobody cares.

Nobody gives a damn. That’s the game we play. It’s just how it goes. Here is some advice. Don’t ever talk about your bad beats at the poker table. It only encourages other players to go after you. Do you really think you’re the only one who has had pocket aces busted? Are you the only one that runs up against the knuck who calls your all-in bet with a draw, and then hits their draw even though the odds are stacked against it? Believe me, it happens to all of us. 

I was in a $50 (max buy-in) no-limit game a couple nights ago and a player took a couple bad beats in a row. Then I beat him when he tangled with my pocket Kings. The poor guy went on tilt and proceeded to blow a couple hundred dollars in a short period of time. All the while he was telling us about his bad beats. He apparently bought in and had a winning streak and built his bankroll up to $700 and then in one day he lost almost all of it. Many of them he opined were “bad beats.” He droned on and on about people sucking out and said “this isn’t fair.” He was down to his last $100.

You know what, Poker isn’t fair. Get over it.

For some reason this guy continued playing when the cards just weren’t going his way. He let the bad beats and his own negative attitude consume him. He became everybody’s chump in the online poker room. His stories encouraged everyone to go after him. He was on tilt so he made too many bad decisions and kept losing pots.

When the cards don’t seem to be going your way, take a break.

Sometimes we do experience swings in our luck. We also tend to be our own worst enemy when we continue playing under these conditions. Our frame of mind shifts ever so slightly and we make mistakes. Our mistakes are intensified in our mind and we go on tilt. We think, this isn’t fair. Sometimes we think we have to win the money back today. After all, our luck is bound to change sometime, right.

Do yourself a favor. Recognize when you’re off your game. Everybody has those days. Take a break. Go have a beer, go for a hike, take a nap, eat a meatloaf sandwich. Do anything but play poker. Clear your mind and the odds are that you will return to play a much better game next time.

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