All About Bad Beats In Poker

Pub poker players across New Zealand will be familiar with bad beats but if you’re just starting out in the game, or need a quick refresher on what these are, keep reading. A bad beat, which is sometimes called a suck out, happens when a player who was a massive favourite to win a hand, suddenly loses. Not only can this be very frustrating but it can also be kind of confusing. Well, keep in mind that sometimes, putting a bad beat on a good player is a necessary move if you want to keep low-quality players coming to the game.

A little more about bad beats

Did you know that bad beats are a good sign about the way you play? While it may not feel that way when a bad beat actually happens, being the favourite when the money goes in means you’re playing well, even if the results don’t turn out the way you wanted them to. Because pub poker, especially in New Zealand, has become so popular, there are flocks of players joining in every day which means, of course, that there are just as many bad beats cropping up as well, coupled with the fact that a lot of players don’t really care about improving their game.
And by the way, bad beats happen to everyone, even the most experienced players. This is because even though you can employ certain strategies when you play the game, at the end of the day luck is one of its most important components. And sometimes, luck doesn’t favour who you think it will.
Though bad beats have a bad rap, they are actually really helpful in getting new players into the game as it makes the feel like they can win.

How do bad beats happen?

When you’re a massive favourite to win a hand and you lose, that is considered a bad beat. Sometimes, these can be really extreme if you have pocket aces that beaten by pocket kings because of a third king that made an appearance on the river after going all in on the turn.
All of the experts will tell you that when you’ve got a couple hundred bad beats behind you, you can consider yourself a good player. Doesn’t make sense? Well think about it, bad beats happen when you’ve got a great hand and getting all your chip in but a twist of fate (a small percentage of chance) keeps you from winning. The fact that you have a great hand getting called by a much worse hand means that you’re playing well, even if luck is not necessarily cooperating.

A final word about bad beats

As a good player, you’re going to be inundated with bad beats and here’s why: the game of pub poker sees new players getting in every day and the fact that they’re inexperienced and want to play a faster game means they’re unpredictable. Sometimes, they even have ‘beginner’s luck’ on their side and this can be extremely frustrating, especially if you’ve been reading and researching to try and improve your game.
So what do you do? Well, the only thing you can do is keep playing. Don’t give up. The game of pub poker is a fun and potentially lucrative one for those who have a little strategy and experience behind them and even when it feels like new players are sucking out the win right from under your nose, you need to keep going. As a good player who sometimes encounters bad beats, you can take comfort from the fact that you are doing something right.