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Surviving a Bad beat in Texas Hold'em Poker

By: H.H.A.

A "bad beat" is a situation that most poker players will face eventually. It's not well defined what kind of hand is a bad beat, but in general terms it's when a player with a strong hand makes a good bet, and yet is beat on the long run by a player with a weaker hand that hits a lucky strike at end, winning over the strong hand. Some would say that the player with the weak hand made a bad decision to stick and bet with the hand he was dealt, but with just one lucky move in the turn or river, got away with the chips of the players with strong cards.

The more important aspect of a bad beat is the psychological damage to the mind of a player, which could take the player to making even more bad decisions, or even send the player to the "tilt zone", and change his strategy completely towards a disastrous ending.

There are various types of scenarios in which a bad beat may appear: the player with a weak hand sometimes wins despite having poor mathematical probabilities and then making the "wrong" decision to continue in the game, and then hitting a lucky run of cards, like a flush, in the turn or river. Sometimes when a good hand losses to a superior hand, that gets called a bad beat, too, like losing with a full house to a straight flush. There is a divide among the players concerning what is or is not a "bad beat".

The best way to respond to a bad beat is to realize that it is a necessary and unavoidable drawback of any strategy; even the more experienced players endure bad beats. Poker is a game that not only depends on luck but implicates odds, strategy and most importantly discipline. This means having the discipline to stick to your game plan, even if it means folding all night just waiting for a good hand to reach you or to survive a really bad beat and not letting this mess up you mind. Do not take a bad beat personally thinking that a "lousy player" is controlling the table and stealing your pots. If your ego begins to play a part in the poker table, you are likely to lose. Just let things cool down a bit before returning to the table and continuing to play, and avoid Tilt at all cost.