Bad Beats in Poker

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Article Summary: Bad beats are an inevitable occurrence for Internet poker players. The most difficult part when playing online poker is for players is being able to handle bad beats & deal with them effectively.

Online poker has been taken to new heights over recent years. There are more and more players joining the field each year and the speed in which the game is played has dramatically increased. The world of Internet poker embraces an abundance of inexperienced players, which has also increased the likeliness of players to catch extremely bad beats. Bad beats are also more frequent in Internet poker because players are now multi-tabling, seeing anywhere in the neighbourhood of 500 or more hands per hour. The biggest mistake most players make when they are subject to horrible bad beats is how they choose to react.

Players tend to become extremely frustrated with taking a bad beat and rightfully so but they then alter their decisions as a result. For example, a player that gets sucked out on with their pocket Aces the last couple times they have had them now decides to slow play them. Instead of raising pre-flop as they rightfully should, they allow 4 or 5 players to limp in the hand. Now, they over estimate the value of their hand post-flop and the player they allowed to limp in sitting in the blinds with something ridiculous flopped trips, a set or two pair. The Aces think the horrible flop finally is going to win for them and they push over the top to only find that they are even madder now than to begin with.

The point of the example is to show that if Internet poker players stick to solid strategy and do not waver because of a bad beat, they have a significantly higher chance of being profitable in the long run. However, if they waver and make adjustments because they think their bad beats are indicative of “how it goes”, they will most likely dump their bankroll. Bad beats have a tendency to cause players to forget basic poker principles. This is also usually because the player is not playing within their bankroll & lost most of their money on the bad beat.

Players need to play within their bankroll and exercise proper bankroll management. A solid, successful online poker player will not allow his pocket Aces getting cracked to an all-in pocket deuces catching a set to get to him or her. This is because they know they made the right play and in the long run, they will win with the same play way more than they will lose. The process of bankroll management is to control the variance (ups and downs in poker) in poker. Players that have all their money or a good portion of it riding on one game are setting themselves up for failure from the start. The whole theory of try one big tournament to win big and get your bankroll started is extremely flawed. More times than not, the player dumps their bankroll numerous times trying this theory before they ever, if ever establish a proper bankroll and begin playing within it.

Players need to realize when they suffer a bad beat that the play was the right play. The objective of any online poker player should be to get their opponents to push in their chips when the odds are unfavourable for them. If you take a bad beat, you were in the best position. The opponent’s odds were unfavourable and they miraculously outdrew you. Successful online poker players will make the same solid play every time, despite the bad beat they took with the same hand an hour ago. This is because they want the situations where they have favourable odds, their opponent is drawing with unfavourable odds and all the chips are on the line.

Over the long run, these players will win those decisions more times than not. Playing within your bankroll is the biggest aid in helping players handle bad beats. Bankroll management instills the idea that solid play is rewarded and your bankroll will build but bad beats are inevitable and they should not alter your future decisions.