How to deal with bad beat?

[ozymandias11]

Tourney 22$ PKO 10000$

Right before bubble. I'm around 20th place with deep stack. And here came pocket AA. 3way flop 4AQ. Small stack go all in. Biggest stack fold and I call. Turn and river 23. I'm already counting his chips but just than my equity shows 0%. because he had 59. Complete tilt. Busted in two next hands. How to overcome negative state of mind after blow like that? Not my first time.
p.s. Sorry for my English.

 

[alienat3d]

I totally understand how disgusting it can be when a villain hits his runner-runner straight or just gets one of his few outs. However, I have good advice for you on that. You could do something in this case, to fight your rage and tilt rushing to you and back to control of your emotions:

1. Click that button "sit out next hand". Don't worry to be missing some action and folding some good hands, it's not important anymore. It's much more important to bring the calmness in your head again.
2. Lie back on your chair or sofa, to make your sit more comfortable, don't take attention what's going on at your tables or around.
3. Close your eyes and take a deep long breath through your nose, try to concentrate your attention on how the air fills your lungs.
4. Hold the air for a few seconds.
5. Exhale the air very slowly through your mouth, until your lungs become almost empty again.
6. Wait for a few seconds.
7. Repeat it 3-5-7 times or more. As much as you think you need it to become calm again.
8. Try to concentrate all your attention on breathing. If your mind jumps to the "thinking thoughts" again, which happens and totally normal thing. Bring it gently back to breathing again, saying to yourself, that at this moment, there is nothing more important than concentrating on breathing. Keep your eyes closed the whole time you're doing it.

So after you've done this small and easy exercise you should feel yourself already much calmer.
In addition, if the thoughts like "Why the hell am I always so unlucky?! Why they keep bad beating me all the time?!" will come back to you. Tell yourself and get it to your understanding, that this is all normal thing. It's just a part of this game and it's a part of the variance. There are no more or less lucky players in the world, there are just players who play well and experienced & disciplined enough to cope with bad beats and bad runs and to minimize their loss in such times. And the players who can't cope with that. The black stripe gonna end at some point and you will be winning again. But it's vital for your bankroll and your poker carrier to not lose too much at these black stripe times.
In fact the most money/chips people lose while tilting. So a proper mindset is super important in poker. But the good news, it can be trained, the same way, as you're training your poker skills. And more experience you get, easier you can cope with bad beats.

And if you still feel like you're not playing your A-Game, even after you did all that I wrote above, it's better not to start any new game and take a break from poker for a few hours or till the next day.

Good luck with self-improvement exercises and on the felts!

p.s. Welcome to the forum! Feel yourself at home!

 

[Dailon Arroyo Blandon]

I totally understand how disgusting it can be when a villain hits his runner-runner straight or just gets one of his few outs. However, I have good advice for you on that. You could do something in this case, to fight your rage and tilt rushing to you and back to control of your emotions:

1. Click that button "sit out next hand". Don't worry to be missing some action and folding some good hands, it's not important anymore. It's much more important to bring the calmness in your head again.
2. Lie back on your chair or sofa, to make your sit more comfortable, don't take attention what's going on at your tables or around.
3. Close your eyes and take a deep long breath through your nose, try to concentrate your attention on how the air fills your lungs.
4. Hold the air for a few seconds.
5. Exhale the air very slowly through your mouth, until your lungs become almost empty again.
6. Wait for a few seconds.
7. Repeat it 3-5-7 times or more. As much as you think you need it to become calm again.
8. Try to concentrate all your attention on breathing. If your mind jumps to the "thinking thoughts" again, which happens and totally normal thing. Bring it gently back to breathing again, saying to yourself, that at this moment, there is nothing more important than concentrating on breathing. Keep your eyes closed the whole time you're doing it.

So after you've done this small and easy exercise you should feel yourself already much calmer.
In addition, if the thoughts like "Why the hell am I always so unlucky?! Why they keep bad beating me all the time?!" will come back to you. Tell yourself and get it to your understanding, that this is all normal thing. It's just a part of this game and it's a part of the variance. There are no more or less lucky players in the world, there are just players who play well and experienced & disciplined enough to cope with bad beats and bad runs and to minimize their loss in such times. And the players who can't cope with that. The black stripe gonna end at some point and you will be winning again. But it's vital for your bankroll and your poker carrier to not lose too much at these black stripe times.
In fact the most money/chips people lose while tilting. So a proper mindset is super important in poker. But the good news, it can be trained, the same way, as you're training your poker skills. And more experience you get, easier you can cope with bad beats.

And if you still feel like you're not playing your A-Game, even after you did all that I wrote above, it's better not to start any new game and take a break from poker for a few hours or till the next day.

Good luck with self-improvement exercises and on the felts!

p.s. Welcome to the forum! Feel yourself at home!

Wow .... better nobody could have said it .... you have summed up in an excellent way what we really should all do if we ever wear "Tilt" after having a "Bad Beat" ... thanks my friend .. .!

 

[Edgerik]

Turn the page and continue playing.

 

[fundiver199]

Also try to separate yourself from, what happened. Imagine it was someone else, who suffered this bad beat, and you were just watching. Then its actually funny as hell. The guy called pre with junk, made a wild bluff on the flop, got it in nearly dead but hit a perfect runner-runner to scoop the pot.

Hands like these are great for poker, because they give bad players a good experience, which makes them come back. And you want guys like this in your 22$ tournament, because they are where, the profit comes from.

So to quote Blackrain79 this is like a "fish tax", we all have to pay from time to time to keep the wheels grinding. Of course I am also more happy, if it happen to someone else rather than me. But when I am not involved in a hand, I always cheer for the bad players, because they are my friends

 

[77ecos]

getting used to bad beats is the healthiest and in automatic you are still focused on your game, some are more painful than others but the essential thing is not to get carried away

 

[Scroooob]

Tourney 22$ PKO 10000$

Right before bubble. I'm around 20th place with deep stack. And here came pocket AA. 3way flop 4AQ. Small stack go all in. Biggest stack fold and I call. Turn and river 23. I'm already counting his chips but just than my equity shows 0%. because he had 59. Complete tilt. Busted in two next hands. How to overcome negative state of mind after blow like that? Not my first time.
p.s. Sorry for my English.

First off, your English is fine, I totally understood your comment. Second off, do what I do. Find a fake App, like ppp or some other way to play poker for fake chips, join a freeroll and go all in every hand. Pretty soon after, when you screw some guy over with 93 vs aces, then you are laughing and no longer on tilt. Then, you are ready to play again.

 

[Scroooob]

Also try to separate yourself from, what happened. Imagine it was someone else, who suffered this bad beat, and you were just watching. Then its actually funny as hell. The guy called pre with junk, made a wild bluff on the flop, got it in nearly dead but hit a perfect runner-runner to scoop the pot.

Hands like these are great for poker, because they give bad players a good experience, which makes them come back. And you want guys like this in your 22$ tournament, because they are where, the profit comes from.

So to quote Blackrain79 this is like a "fish tax", we all have to pay from time to time to keep the wheels grinding. Of course I am also more happy, if it happen to someone else rather than me. But when I am not involved in a hand, I always cheer for the bad players, because they are my friends

I often get angry at other players who berate the fish for playing like that, and I'll call them out. What do they expect to happen? Either they will leave or get better, neither of which we want. They have the right to play however they want.

 

[BenSprocket]

Play 2000 to 3000 hands a day. You soon learn that single hands don't matter and another spot is just around the corner.

 

[Puerta2005]

I always get angry with bad beats..........in my case they have the worst timing, i lost in a tournament........20k to 40k lost.........then 3k to 6k, win, a joke.