What Is a Bad Beat in Poker?
Introduction: Bad Beat in Poker
Let’s look at an example. Let’s say we’re all laying in a game of no-limit Texas Hold’em or in a tournament. Being a boss, you go all in with the best possible hand of the moment, 2 x aces. Now, imagine there’s a player there, who appears to be far from intimidated by your huge bet. He goes all in behind you and then calls you. They flip over there cards to receive a 5 and 6 of clubs. But the thing is that a 5 and 6 is not really a hand you want to go all in pre-flop.
Pocket Rockets
So now we have you 2 x aces versus their same suit 5 and 6. It’s seems to be an obvious win. You might as well just reach in and grab the stack of chips. But hold on. It’s not over till the fat lady sings. So while your “pocket rockets” look like a certainty, you’re actually only about 77% chance of winning. That translates as for every 4 hands you go all in with a pair of pocket rockets against a 5 and a 6 of the same suit, you’ll lose at least once. And when you do, you’ll feel all the wind taken from your sails. That sinking feeling that make players shake their heads in sympathy.
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Don’t Define Me
Having said all that, the actual definition of what constitutes a bad beat can vary, and there’s no fixed definition as such. On the whole we say it’s a bad beat if an overwhelmingly favorite hand loses to an inferior one that still needs more cards to win. Now in the life, if you happen to lose a 50:50 race, you can put it down to ad luck. Or, that’s the way things go. So it’s not really a bad beat.
Let’s imagine that you go all in before the flop with a pocket rocket of a pair of 9’s. And end up being called by an Ace and a Queen of spades. In this picture, you’ll actually only win 52% of the time. Even after the flop and the turn are dealt, your 9’s may manage to hold steady. Suddenly a river card of a Queen and in an instant you go from a certain winner to an actual loser.
No One Cares About Your Bad Beat
This is an incredible common beat. But telling any other players of your loss will not bring you any sympathy. The reason being that you are making a newbie mistake in your hurry to see some chips. But again, this doesn’t really describe a true bad beat. For that, the story being told needs to have an almost impossible quality to it. Now going all in with a pocket 10 and losing to a pocket 5 would certainly be classed as a ad beat.
Looking at the percentages, it’s also important to keep in mind that sometimes even an Ace/King combo can only win against a Queen/10 hand 66%. A really brutal bad beat is when you have all your money in the pot and you’re heading on the flop or on the turn. As four of the five community cards are already out there, and you’re way in front, then no one can blame you for your bad assumption. That final river card can kill you and it often does.
Imagine that you started with a pocket pair of 7’s. After the run you end up with 3 of a kind. Then let’s give your opponent a flush draw. Let’ say that he has 2 x hearts and there are 2 x hearts on the board. With only the river card to be dealt to your opponent, then the chances are that he will win 84% of the time.
A Bad Beat: Runner Runner
There will be times when the winning flush card will suddenly come from your opponent. In fact, we can say that this will happen 16% of the time. To that end, when it arrives, you can be instantly disheartened. You’ll want to throw something or throw up. Go on, go outside and shout at a tree or something. In reality, you’ve just met Mr. Mathematical Probability. There’s yet another ad beat hereby a player goes “runner-runner” on you. Suppose that you are massively in front after the flop. But now the turn gives your opponent the cards with which to slay you. A runner runner bad beat would be when you manage to flop a full house, only to see your opponent go runner runner and catch the next 2 cards dealt t make a full house that’s built higher than your own house.
A Bad Beat: Does It Hurt
Some more poker slang for you. A “bubble” is the moment that all the remaining players will be paid out some winnings. So, it follows that if you’re a “Bubble boy” or a person who’s “In The Bubble” then you’re the guy who finishes just one point away from being in the money. So if we take a large poker competition like the World Series, where we can have anywhere up to 8,000 entrants. Of those around 10% will remain in the players’ pool and be up for receiving for some cash. So imagine that’s around 800 players. Now the 801st player is the bubble boy. That unfortunate player will get nothing. And that’s another bad beat. A particularly cruel one as well.
What’s A Cooler?
A really, really bad beat is called a “cooler”. A cooler hand is one in which a rock-solid hand loses to an even more bonkers and amazing hand. A good example would be when a player sitting on a 4 of a kind, loses out to a straight flush. If you really want to go all in with bad beats, then how about a cross of a runner runner and a cooler combined. here you’ll flop 4 of a kind, only to see your opponent catch runner runner and get themselves a higher 4 of a kind.
Conclusion: A Bad Beat In Poker
Bad beats are part and parcel of playing real money poker. You never know what’s around the corner. From a psychological perspective, a bad beat can be quite devastating and lead to a momentary lose of confidence. But whatever you do, don’t go full tilt because of a bad beat. If you can remain stoic, then you can turn your bad beat around into something more profitable. That’s because you could still win whist playing the same hand. In the popular gambling movie, Rounders, one charter says, “Few players recall big pots they have won, strange as it seems, but every player can remember with remarkable accuracy the outstanding tough beats of his career.”
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