Dealing With It
How Do You Deal with a bad beat?
Do you deal with Tournament situations and cash situations differently?
(I'm assuming that the bad beat didn't leave you broke and you plan to continue playing)
Do you deal with Tournament situations and cash situations differently?
(I'm assuming that the bad beat didn't leave you broke and you plan to continue playing)
Comments
a string of badbeats in a downswing...now there...that requires some serious mental fortitude
When I get a few in a row I think that the poker Gods are punishing me for something I did.
The worse is the killer bad beat such as having KK, going all-in, one caller, they have QQ. Not only do they catch a third Queen, but the forth as well.
I wouldn't call that a killer bad beat. A 2 outer blows for sure, but it happens. I get annoyed when someone on complete tilt gets rewarded for their utter stupidity (at my expense). Last MTT I played I get limp-reraised by a guy who just lost a big pot (99 vs. QQ), and it's OBVIOUS he's on tilt. I call with my KK and he shows J9o. Flop comes a horrid T8x, and I can see it coming in all of Stars suck-out glory. 7 on the turn and I LOSE IT (Champ style). Maybe I need to take Tilter's advice and play multiple tournies, but my great fear is once I suffer a stupid beat like that, I am generally aware that it could affect my play in the other tournies.
What I meant to say it's bad when you get a Bad Beat, it makes it worse when the bad beat turns out to be a monster for them. Kind of like extra nails in the coffin
It's almost a good thing that I have to send my laptop into Dell today for warranty repair so I'll be taking at least 4 or 5 days off from poker. No, I didn't break it... I just got it and there have been all sorts of problems that keep coming up with my network card, so I figured it's as good a time as any to send it out and get that fixed before I send it for a 12 story ride from my patio.
Ah......I got it...........to deal with a bad beat you can always get it off your chest by coming to PokerForum.ca and post about it. Theres always someone out there thats had a beating just like you and will make you fell much better. Thanks, guys.
To deal with a bad beat is to let it go, and realize that some times you are the one giving out the bad beats. (Like having KK and another player has AA, and you catch a King on the river). You should try to play an emotionless game whether you are up or down.
Unless you made some strategic mistake somewhere along the way, such as incorrectly letting someone take off a free or cheap card, a bad draw-out is simply an indication that one or more of your opponents got their money into the pot with the worst of it.
There are good plays and bad plays. There are no bad beats.
ScottyZ
Unfortunately for me, I don't have such monk-like control of my emotions. Do you meditate while you play Scotty? (I'm actually half-serious). While I find bad beats to be incredibly frustrating, upon reflection, I find myself laughing at bad beats (after the fact), whereas if I badly misplayed a hand, I tend to find myself thinking much more about those hands than the incredible runner-runner beats I take. So in short I think I spend much more time thinking about my own misplays than the other idiots misplays. This reveleation actually has me somewhat surprised...maybe I am progressing in this game...I must meditate on this.
I don't think I meditate per say, but I probably do remain calmer than most while playing poker.
Obviously no-one (including me) is infallable, and I find myself yelling at the computer once in a while too.
I think what does help is thinking a lot about bad beats away from the table. I think about not only specific hands where my opponents drew out on me, but also bad beats in general. Fully understanding exactly where long-run profits come from in poker helps me keep an even perspective on individual hands.
Howard Lederer has made a lot insightful comments on "being in the moment" while playing poker, and similar. I would strongly second one of his book recommendations, "Zen Mind: Beginner's Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki, if you are interested in this sort of thing. This is a highly accessible and insightful text, and probably the book, other than poker books, which has improved my own poker the game the most.
Do not be bothered.
ScottyZ
This is a good book too, and I'd recommend it. There is also a sequel called "The Tao of Poker", but a lot of it feels like more of the same. If you really end up enjoying ZoP, then ToP is probably still worth picking up anyway.
Also, you're going to have to ignore some of the bits of incorrect inforamtion in ZoP about luck, "running cold", and such. While there is plenty of good advice in ZoP about handling luck in poker, you may find the occasional dubious poker strategy advice if you are well versed in probability.
ScottyZ
its a good read for sure.
as for what scotty said, i dont remember exactly, but i believe that since a lot of the analysis is rooted in this sort of emotion/pychological foundation, some of the advice seems to be aimed at making you feel better, not necessarily to help you win the most money