Bad beat, beat, donk..One must ask..

[twizzybop]

When we get bad beats, get beat, some donk calls, et-cetra.

One must ask themself when this happens instead of blaming the other person or cards. "Was I in the hand that I wasn't supposed to be in"

Did you limp in with cards you don't normally limp in with?
Did you call from the blinds a pre-flop raise with cards you shouldn't have?
We tend to blame the play of others for a bad outcome or the cards when if you think about it. That the outcome was due to the play you made to yourself?

I know I do it.. Playing a hand I shouldn't be playing but end up getting beat cause of my own play not cause of his play.

For instance you have before the you have two callers. One has made a simple raise. You have A 10 off suit. You figure why not and call. Button calls and the blinds call. Flop comes Ace,Ace, 5 .. looks pretty good here correct. So you bet not knowing the button has A,9 and he calls. Turn helps neither one of you. Of course you bet and he calls.. Now the river comes a 9. Yes I know its remote chance that the 9 would and this scenario wouldn't be your fault because you did have A,10.

Yet there are times and even myself blame the other person or cards that we lost when in fact it was your own doing that brought you this doom.

So next time before you go off on a rant.. stop for 1 moment and ask.. was it something I did to put myself into that situation.

 

[t1riel]

I don't blame the other player usually. I usually blame myself for how I played it. There are situations where there is nothing you can do. For instance, let's say you are dealt Ah, 6h. Not a bad hand. There are no raises and everyone limps in. Now, it comes to you. You raise 2X the blind to get some players to fold. One player calls you and everyone folds. The flop comes up 3h, 6h, 7h. You got the Ace high flush so you make a decent but not big raise to trap them. The other player calls. The turn is a Ks. You make another decent but not big sized bet and the other player calls. You think you have this pot no problem. The river is a 5h. You bet a huge amount and the other player re-raises so you push all-in. The other player calls. You have the Ace high flush. The other player reveals Kh, 4h. Now, I ask you. Would you fold an Ace high flush? Probably not. Some situations you can't avoid. But, most cases you see how you could have played the hand better. It's good to ask the questions that twizzy posted because one of the best ways to become a better poker player is learning from your mistakes.

 

[twizzybop]

Good point triel but again you put yourself in that position with that scenario you created. You tried a trap play(not that it isn't a bad play) just think if you played the bet stronger on the flop? He probably would have folded.

I remember this just recently happened to myself. Actually two scenarios.. first was the flop came giving me top pair with ace kicker., I bet.. get re-raised and re-raised. I called both, but after I called them both . Lighbulb goes off(duh) I instantly think trips.. turn comes. Someone bets and thats when I fold. I was correct there was trips but had I realized this in the first place I wouldn't have lost as many chips.

Second scenarion holding A(x) suited.. flop comes 5,5,J and two of them are my suit. Person on my right bets.. I call for the nut flush, rest of the table folds. Have him on three 5's. An eight comes on the turn helping nobody.. he bets again not high but enough to make me call. River drops the king of spades.. Nice nut flush but not nice enough to beat his fullhouse (8's over 5's).. first thought was wtf was he doing? But then thought to myself.. you were the one who misread the board so nobody to blame but yourself.

 

[chicubs1616]

It's not so much the result, it is how you played it. You may make a mistake by playing a hand that you should not, but there is a chance later in the hand to correct that mistake and make the best of your situation. (folding most of the time...)

Bad beats are a natural part of the game...as long as there is 1 out for your opponent, any result is possible.

My advice...

Don't be results oriented. Review the hand a couple days later and evaluate what you believe you did wrong and correct your mistakes. Also, posting actual hands with the hand histories is a HUGE help to those whose advice you are asking.