The Psychology Of Bad Beats

Coming back from bad beats and knowing how to handle them is so important in your poker career.

Bad beats are when you go all in on a sure thing and, against the odds, you lose to your opponent.

Many people will first of all blame the poker room or claim a bot or logging software is at work. This is very rarely the case.

Others will become focussed on winning their money back from the person who “stole” their chips. Never let emotions get the better of you. It is in many ways best to just leave the table and come back later to another table. Best to retreat and fight again another day than be fatally wounded or suffer an even larger setback in your emotional lust for revenge.

The fact is, bad beats are just part of the game in poker. Poker is a game of probabilities and your chances of winning are very rarely equal to 1. Someone can nearly always beat you, no matter how favourable the odds.

Don’t modify the way that you play. You must look to the long term. If you have been playing profitably so far then in the long run you will continue to do so. If you suddenly change your play and become more tight then you will probably miss too many opportunities and begin a long term losing streak.

Get back into the game and do not change your style because of a few bad beats. Check your history. If you made mistakes based on the information available then learn from them. If you made the best decision based on the available information then you have nothing to regret. Keep playing this way and you will profit in the long term.

Especially in poker, we have a game where you must use your logic over your emotions. Even worse than your opponents beating you is for you to beat yourself.