Everyone who plays the game of cards is bound to meet with the bad beat poker fate at one point if not the other. What does bad beat poker mean? This is a situation where you are the odds on favourite to win the pot, you have the best hand across the board with the right EV, and you still end up falling short. Online poker bad beats occur somehow even to the most skilled and experienced players, and it truly is inevitable.
Whether you’re holding a straight flush after the river and your opponent has just one card better than yours; or whether you simply hold typical bad beat poker hands like pocket aces that don’t work in the long run, there is every possibility to encounter a bad beat in poker. You cannot eliminate bad beats from poker. However, today we will cover five ways using which you can tackle your bad beat scenario and be better prepared for it when it does happen.
- Playing Hand Equity to Counter Bad Beats
Equity here refers to your chances of winning the pot that you are contending for. This plays a significant role in deciding the way you approach the game. Therefore, it is important for you to know exactly what your odds are for winning the pot and the equity you possess. You need to calculate the outs you hold to make a hand in order to calculate your equity. Also bear in mind that your equity is not the same after the flop, just like it isn’t the same after the turn and the river as well during a hand. If you multiply your outs by four on the flop and by two during the turn, you have the easiest way to calculate your equity. If your equity comes to over 50%, you must contribute to the pot as much as you can. Usage of equity in your game plan is sure to help avoid bad beats.
- Focus on Upgrading Your Game to Counter Bad Beats
Another way that can help you combat bad beats in poker is to aim and improve the quality of your game by focusing on the process and not the result. If you are playing with winning as the only agenda in your mind, you might fail to enjoy poker and leave it as a whole. While playing poker, your goal should be to improve your EV in every hand you play. By aligning losses with bad play, you are going wrong in your judgement because there is no player who is guaranteed a win 10/10 times. Every player encounters a bad beat which should shift your mindset towards improving your skills in the game. If you do meet up with a loss, it's not the end of the world, and you should try and take it as positively as you can. This would help you perform better in your next opportunity.
- Avoid Tilting to Counter Bad Beats
A tilt in poker refers to the frustration a player feels when everything works against them. They throw strategy out of the window and make wild emotional moves at the table, and this is a direct product of bad beats in poker. If you aren’t winning and incurring losses, try and stay positive for the next game and don’t lose your temper. Make plans on how you’re going to rebuild your EV in the next games and don’t put your focus on the results. If you find yourself to be in a constant struggle against bad beats, then take a break because you can’t win poker games without making the right betting choices.
- Avoid Shuffling Game Plans to Counter Bad Beats
While playing poker online, you are bound to run into a bad beat or two. This doesn’t mean that you instantly make drastic changes to the way you play the game purely because of a few experiences with bad beats. There is no immediate fix against bad beats, and so by making such changes to your game you will only make things harder for you. Poker has to be natural. Through experience and preference, you adapt a style, and you ought to operate within that style by constantly enhancing it. Avoid such needless changes because it isn’t that it will prepare you any better against bad beats anyway. This once again brings us back to the point of focusing on the process because poker is a game of patience, not impulse.
- Plan an Exit Strategy to Counter Bad Beats
As a poker player, it is crucial for you to plan an exit strategy when you know that it is time for you to leave the game. This breaking point helps you decide how much money is worth to leave with against how much more is at risk of loss. You must keep your emotions in check and be able to stop playing when you are facing one bad beat after another. Poker is about having the right mindset. If you aren’t playing at a hundred per cent, it is advised that you take a break, work on your strategies and return as a stronger player.
Bad beats shouldn’t scare you away from trying your hand at poker. It is this risk that makes winning all the more enjoyable. You must keep the points we provided for your reference and plan a strategy that works for you. You will encounter a bad beat every once a while regardless of how well you develop your skill because this is part of poker’s luck factor. By joining Spartan Poker, you can learn many more such valuable lessons and improve your poker game. From Texas Hold’em to Omaha, a range of games waiting for you to exhibit your skills. Join Spartan Poker with no delay and be part of the finest online poker experience you are sure to receive on our platform.
