Taking Bad beats
Original article found at: http://www.pokerschoolonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33
Bad Beat.... or Good Beat?
by Chris Alexander
We've all been there, we've flopped top pair top kicker (AK) with a flop of K 2 7 only to get sucked out on with a 4 on the river to be beat by 2 pair K's and 4's. How should you handle it? More to the point, how DO you handle it? This is an important distinction because as you know, how we should handle something and how we really handle beats like this are often two very different things.
Now, this isn't a lesson with all the popular "poker is a long term game" types of jargon in it. We all know (or should know) that this is true. But sometimes that very true fact does little or anything to mitigate the anger and outrage that we feel when we get our aces cracked by rags.
Poker is a fluid game where luck flows to you and away from you. Very often, how you handle these short term fluctuations is the difference between being a winning player and a losing player long term. In fact, it could be said that your ultimate success in this game is directly proportional to your ability to "handle" bad beats.
Let's face it beats like this are going to happen. Let's face something else, YOU WANT THEM TO HAPPEN! So the question is what steps can you take to prepare yourself and brace yourself in some cases for the inevitable beats that the game we all know and love can and will dish out?
Know Thy Self
So... how do you feel today? Are you tired? Are you in a bad mood? Let me ask you this... are you in the right frame of mind for poker today? Answering these questions honestly prior to you even thinking of sitting at a table are crucial to your session success or failure. Poker when played in the right frame of mind can be a very enjoyable experience, alternately, when it is played with ego and anger, it can be a very confusing and frustrating game.
I often marvel at players who play (profitably) for hours on end in 20 or 30 hour sessions or longer. I for one can't do it. When I'm tired, I'm cranky. When I'm cranky I make poor decisions and push hands that I shouldn't push and lay down hands that I shouldn't lay down. I have learned this through very painful experiences. It may not be the same for you, but the key is understanding how YOU react and how YOU play under different circumstances.
Everyone has been in what is affectionately called "the zone". When you are making right decisions, making huge lay downs when you should and calling or raising at the right time. Beats, good and bad don't phase you because you knew you made the right decisions the entire hand. The key is understanding how you feel and what your mental state is when you are in this zone. When I'm there, I am rested, mentally ready and have the ability to concentrate on the game not only when I'm in the hand but also when I'm not in the hand. It's almost a Zen type of feeling when I feel that I am part of the flow, and not swimming or fighting against it. This doesn't mean that I am having a winning session however. I can be in the zone and have an even or down session, but the key is that I am making the right decisions for the right reasons.
As I say in my lessons on PSO and in my private tutoring, poker is a game of decisions. Decisions can and will make or break you. Getting to the point where I can feel good about a good decision regardless of the outcome of the individual hand is the key to my ultimate success.
Knowing and being honest with yourself is by far the most important skill a poker player can possess. Next time you have one of these "zone" sessions, ask yourself a few questions:
Am I well rested?
Have I had a "good" day so far?
Was the session interruption free?
How did I take any beats that I took were I was ahead until the very end?
Answering these questions and questions like these can put you well on your way towards understanding the set up for a "zone" session. If before your next session, you can't say with any degree of certainty that you are in the same "place" as you were last session, then take a moment and decide if poker is really what you want to be doing at that moment.
As I have stated before. Poker is a game, and games are supposed to be fun. If you aren't having fun, it's time to really be honest with yourself and decide if either the game isn't for you, or perhaps you are taking it a bit too seriously.