Every poker player have experienced the terrible feeling of facing a bad beat at some point in his/her poker career. A bad beat is losing a good hand to the opponent even when odds were in your favor. Regardless of whether you play online or offline poker, bad beats are inevitable and every player faces that every now and then. Some players consider them as an opportunity to improve their game but for some players, losing the pot due to a bad beat is so devastating that it puts them on tilt. Due to frustration, they try to chase their losses by playing as many hands as possible without considering their hand strength and ultimately lose more chips. Not only amateurs, even experienced players find themselves unable to control their emotions in poker rooms after losing a huge pot due to an unbelievable bad beat.
Online Vs Offline
As online poker is faster than offline version, player participates in more hands and faces more bad beats as compared to offline poker. You can play on multiple tables at the same time, due to which the number of hand increases as well as the chances to face suck outs. If you want to survive in the world of poker and become a successful player, you need to learn how to deal with tilt inducing bad beats.
How are bad beats blessing in disguise?
A good player believes in learning from his winnings as well as his defeats. Facing bad beats means you invested your money into the pot for a good hand only after analyzing the probabilities and your opponent won against the odds. It indicates that you played proper poker and made a calculated decision based on statistics. It’s all about maths! Bad beats from a bad player are not as bad as it sounds. It tricks and encourages the “fish” to play more and contribute more into the pot. If a bad player managed to suck out on someone, he tends to make the same move again and again. There are novice players who believe in luck more than strategies and frequently call or try to hit the draw with any pair of cards and shove all their chips into the pot. Winning a hand gives hope to these players and they start overplaying and bringing more money to the table with weak hands. If bad players never get a chance to win or you scare them away with your taunts and trash-talks when they suck out on you, they will lose interest in the game and you lose a great opportunity to make huge profits.
How to reduce its effect on your mental health and your pocket?
You cannot save yourself from the bad beats but you can minimize its effect by practicing strong money management. Play with only that money which you can afford to lose. Accept that no player is immune from bad beats and learn how to control emotions and tactfully handle the situation when you lose. Don’t mock or sarcastically criticize the winning player to prove that you are a victim of bad beat. Sharing your bad beat story with the world cannot help you get anything else other than some sympathy as most of the poker players already experienced bad beats and understand that they are unavoidable. Learn to let it go and move ahead if you want to save yourself from big losses due to tilt. Take a break, engage yourself in other activities, and return only when you find yourself mentally strong to give your 100% to the game.