You have probably heard thousands of bad beat stories during your online poker career. But, before you start complaining about a hand you lost, consider the following…

Understand what Bad Beats are

It May Not Be a Bad Beat at All, It May Be a Bad Play

If you listen to the stories of bad beats that many people will tell you – one thing comes up too frequently – the bad beats are actually bad plays. A bad beat by definition is a time when you have your money in the pot as a favourite and lose. But, if you make a bad play and lose, it’s not a bad beat – it’s a bad play. Look at the specific poker hand you lost and make sure that you did get your money in the middle as a favourite. If you didn’t, you really don’t have anything to complain about. Focus on making better plays and wait until a real bad beat comes along to complain about.

Even the Best Players Take Bad Beats

If you watch the poker pros on TV or while they are playing in online poker tournaments, you will see that they take bad beats just like you do. Bad beats don’t choose or discriminate you – they happen to everyone. Anyone who has played online poker for longer than a day will tell you about some of the bad beats they have taken. Don’t feel that you are just unlucky and that poker is not the game for you – bad beats happen to everyone and they are just part of the game.

Online Poker Would Not Exist Without Bad Beats

One of the reasons so many people are drawn to online poker is because of the excitement. There is nothing like playing a game of Texas Holdem or Omaha Hi and winning a hand you know you shouldn’t have won. Do you know what that win is to your opponent? That’s a bad beat. Whenever you experience a bad beat, your opponent is experiencing what makes online poker so popular. If you knew what the outcome was going to be before every hand started, would you still play the game? Probably not, right?

The more poker hands you play online, the more bad beats you will take. What matters is how you can minimize them and how you can get over them quickly. Don’t dwell on them for too long, get back playing as soon as possible, and understand that bad beats are part of the game and they happen to even the best players in the world.