What is a bad beat?

[Spaz]

What does everyone consider a bad beat? An inferior hand winning? A dominated hand winning? Anytime someone sucks out on you (but, of course, if you suck out on them it's a different story)?

Slowplaying your two pair or set only to have your opponent hit a flush or straight isn't a bad beat. People should have to sign a waiver every time they slowplay. "Ok, right now I have the best hand. I'm going to give my opponents some free/cheap cards and hope they hit a second best hand that will pay me off, but if they end up hitting a hand that is better than mine then I take full responsibility for giving them those cards."

Too often I see hand histories posted where the "Hero" completely misplayed their hand and the "Villian" got a little lucky... but it never would have happened had the "Hero" played the hand correctly. If you flop quad aces and your opponent rivers a straight flush because they played 23s, then congrats! You have just recieved a bad beat! If you go all-in preflop with AKs and lose to 23o, you have just gotten unlucky. It's not a "bad beat."

Haha its like you think the way i do... most people do play there hands bad only to get mad when they lose and start complaining about the site being rigged. If people would realize they are bad instead of making excuses they could become be a lot better.

Today I was watchin a heads up cash game and this one guy recieved a "bad beat" in his words when he put all his money in preflop with 99 vs AQ and the guy made a higher 2 pair on the board with kings and tens. People really dont understand that its when the money goes in that the percentages matter not at some later point in the hand.

I believe a true bad beat is like what happenened to me the last time i played a mtt. I had won a hand earlier vs this player when I had KK so when I picked up JJ I played it differently... it worked and somehow he got all his money in the pot with pocket 6s on the turn and then a 6 peeled off on the river... Anytime someone has 10% of less chance to win(when all the money goes in)... and they do it is a bad beat.

[HotPopper]

I pretty much agree - a bad beat is when someone gets their money in with horrible pot odds and beats you. Getting 2 to 1 on your money vs getting 7 to 1 you will hit your card is a bad beat.

Calling a small bet with 5 other callers with a 2/3, flopping 2,3,A, calling a all in when a a/k pushes, is not a bad beat.

I also believe any story that starts "I was playing in a freeroll" does not qualify as a bad beat. For a number of reasons already mentioned but would add you have no money on the line(entry fee). I would say this would be a rare card playing expeirence.

i agree with whats been said. the term "sucked out" or "bad beat" gets thrown around WAY too much. ive heard people say someone sucked out on them when the money went in PF, pair vs. overs and the guy hits his over on the river. as if just because he hit on the river it ceased to be a coinflip. this is where redd really hit the nail on the head. when the cards get flipped over, you look at the percentages, its at that point a hand can qualify as a potential bad beat...anything calculated after that is moot and makes you look foolish.

Very interesting posts folks.

Part of the game is losing hands, its just that simple. Its more important to understand our motivation when we take a beating. The previous posts cover it for the most part. Is it greed that motivates us to allow an opponent to see the turn and river once we set? Yep ! Its not their fault that they called our AK suited with pocket 2s , its ours for allowing them to see the Turn and River after we flop AK off and the J only to have the 2 show up in the end. Its pot building greed-plain and simple.

I cant speak for anyone but me , but I play the game for those moments where Im bluffing a hand and am waiting for my opponent to decide if whats on the board is enough to take them down. When they lay it down to my 9-4 off that is totaly unconnected and unfound , I feel that power that all poker players feel. I live for those moments .

Its when we think we OWN the hand that we feel a bad beat and we never OWN any hand . We can study math , odds , protocol, behavior and pros until we are overflowing with knowlege , but its our emotions that are our undoing in the end.


Just my 2 cents in an overflowing pot of change,

Obironkenobi....Ron

Is this a bad beat teacher???

Hold'em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50)
Table 'Suttung V' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Paidtostunt ($29.25 in chips)
Seat 2: Davril ($25.50 in chips)
Seat 3: LGs0pHT ($50 in chips)
Seat 4: aloha_smurf ($20.80 in chips)
Seat 5: Marotschki ($49.25 in chips)
Seat 6: ROVINJUZ ($27.75 in chips)
Seat 7: Imperceptus ($10 in chips)
Seat 8: ViksTiks ($169.35 in chips)
Seat 9: PLAYER A ($55.40 in chips)
Davril: posts small blind $0.25
LGs0pHT: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PLAYER A [Qd Qh]
aloha_smurf: folds
Marotschki: folds
ROVINJUZ: folds
Imperceptus: folds
ViksTiks: folds
PLAYER A: raises $1.50 to $2
Paidtostunt: folds
Davril: raises $5.50 to $7.50
LGs0pHT: folds
PLAYER A: calls $5.50
*** FLOP *** [2d Kh Qc]
Davril: bets $8
PLAYER A raises $25.50 to $33.50
Davril: calls $10 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [2d Kh Qc] [Kc]
*** RIVER *** [2d Kh Qc Kc] [Ad]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Davril: shows [As Kd] (a full house, Kings full of Aces)
PLAYER A: mucks hand
Davril collected $49 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $51.50 | Rake $2.50
Board [2d Kh Qc Kc Ad]
Seat 1: Paidtostunt (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Davril (small blind) showed [As Kd] and won ($49) with a full house, Kings full of Aces
Seat 3: LGs0pHT (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: aloha_smurf folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Marotschki folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: ROVINJUZ folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Imperceptus folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: ViksTiks folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: PLAYER A mucked [Qd Qh]

Lol... we all know what is a bad beat... don't try to call us donkeys.

[Spaz]

Originally Posted by oDinEuskadi

Is this a bad beat teacher???

Hold'em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50)
Table 'Suttung V' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Paidtostunt ($29.25 in chips)
Seat 2: Davril ($25.50 in chips)
Seat 3: LGs0pHT ($50 in chips)
Seat 4: aloha_smurf ($20.80 in chips)
Seat 5: Marotschki ($49.25 in chips)
Seat 6: ROVINJUZ ($27.75 in chips)
Seat 7: Imperceptus ($10 in chips)
Seat 8: ViksTiks ($169.35 in chips)
Seat 9: PLAYER A ($55.40 in chips)
Davril: posts small blind $0.25
LGs0pHT: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PLAYER A [Qd Qh]
aloha_smurf: folds
Marotschki: folds
ROVINJUZ: folds
Imperceptus: folds
ViksTiks: folds
PLAYER A: raises $1.50 to $2
Paidtostunt: folds
Davril: raises $5.50 to $7.50
LGs0pHT: folds
PLAYER A: calls $5.50
*** FLOP *** [2d Kh Qc]
Davril: bets $8
PLAYER A raises $25.50 to $33.50
Davril: calls $10 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [2d Kh Qc] [Kc]
*** RIVER *** [2d Kh Qc Kc] [Ad]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Davril: shows [As Kd] (a full house, Kings full of Aces)
PLAYER A: mucks hand
Davril collected $49 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $51.50 | Rake $2.50
Board [2d Kh Qc Kc Ad]
Seat 1: Paidtostunt (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Davril (small blind) showed [As Kd] and won ($49) with a full house, Kings full of Aces
Seat 3: LGs0pHT (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: aloha_smurf folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Marotschki folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: ROVINJUZ folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Imperceptus folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: ViksTiks folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: PLAYER A mucked [Qd Qh]

Lol... we all know what is a bad beat... don't try to call us donkeys.

yea it's a bad beat. i'm not calling anyone "donkeys", i'm just saying that people bitch and moan way too much over ordinary hands.

I see this term and have used it frequently myself to describe hands that have taken me down when I believed I had a superior hand . Truth is , losing hands that are heartbreakers is all a part of the game. I cant name one person that hasnt been happy as a pig in mud when they sucked out and gave a bad beat to another player.

Point is ....losing is all part of the game . AA KK AK suited doesnt ensure a win. Sure , odds are good , but never solid.

If I get beat in a hand , instead of saying it was a bad beat and moving on , I ask myself what could have I done differently . I examine my part and my thinking instead of whinning about another player getting a winner.

I believe in bad beats less and less as my skills develop. They arent bad, they are just beats.

Obironkenobi

[Nuc__21]

I consider a bad beat when in a ring game just minutes ago, I in middle position and a couple of limpers in front of me, with pockets 8's I raise with three callers.........flop comes out........check check......I raise.....one caller.......he has A 5 off suit.......turn and river each pair the board.......he wins.......two pair with ace kicker......my three pair don't do me any good........again.........

Originally Posted by bwarlitner

yea it's a bad beat. i'm not calling anyone "donkeys", i'm just saying that people bitch and moan way too much over ordinary hands.

Ok, sorry. Maybe i understood it bad.