I want to know if anyone has experienced this and if they know why.

Last week, I had lots of losses and about 1/2 were bad beats and 1/2 was lousy poker playing b/c of the beats (i.e., tilt). It put me in a funk for a week and definitely affected my play.

This weekend, I had some horrific bad beats including being set over settted twice.

However, after this weekend's beats, my mental state is just fine. I'm not upset at all even though my losses are about the same.

Anyone know what the key is to taking bad beats and not letting them in your head. I just did it and have no idea why or how.

TR

Ice helped me realize this when he did his EV of all ins preflop experiment many moons ago...

When you get all your chips in with AA against KK, you don't deserve to win 100% of the time. You deserve to win 4/5 times, and lose your stack 1 out of 5 times. You didn't get screwed just because you lost with a huge favorite. You deserved to lose that one, just like you deserved to win the four times that you win with it.

I was playing at a SnG this weekend and the following occurred:

4 of us all-in

I had KK, another had AA, another had QQ. We all got beat by a guy that called all of our all-in's pre flop with 8-8, he rivered us with the 3rd 8. (Then one guy puts in the chat "I'm glad I folded my AK"). Three bad beats for the price of one!!!

Don

This weekend was quite the weekend for suck-out poker. Not just your garden variety suck-out poker, but the sort of suck-out poker where everyone against me seemed to hit thier draws, be they to 2 or 10 outs, on the river.

That said, I try to keep my sentiment about it the same: "Please keep playing that way!"

I figure if a bunch of guys all hit their 2-outers on the river on me in a day or two, then the odds say they WON'T hit those same 2-outers on me for the next... 20 days or so.

Unless I'm playing on Party, from what I hear.

It's all about the odds. If the move is +EV it still might lose today, but after 100 or 1000 times, it will win what it's supposed to. One of the books I've read recently (either Harrington or the new Sklansky/Malmuth one) likens good poker players to casinos. Casinos tip the odds in their favor with the odds of the games they spread. They don't care if someone hits a Blackjack and takes 'em for 150% of their bet. In fact, they seem to welcome it. Because they know that over time, the odds are in their favor, and that lucky stiff who just hit his blackjack is going to play down to the felt eventually.

Play poker like you're a casino - get the money in when the odds favor you - and you'll win. Eventually.

I usually just scream, break my mouse, and curse the guys mother and grandmother for about a half hour...

That usually does it for me...

The difference for me, is wheather I'm up or down in the game. You can handle bad beats easier after you've won a couple of pots. It also depends on the cards you were getting previous to your bad beat. If you've been getting 2-7, 5-10 ,3-9 and finally get cards you can play with and get beat, it gets a little frustrating.

If you multi-table and are having a good night on one of the other tables, a bad beat on a different table doesn't seem as bad.

These are just a few reasons for handling bad beats differently, I sure some of the more experienced players have others.

Don

Agree with don. I lost my stack with AA but it didn't bother me much because it just brought me back down to even for my one-hour session. Not sure why that matters so much, but it does.

Ice helped me realize this when he did his EV of all ins preflop experiment many moons ago...

Wasn't that me on the old UPF (or did Ice do one too?)

As for not minding the bad beats I find that a large bankroll and the Tao of Poker book help.

But the best medicine is to win (and thoroughly outplay opponents whilst doing it) - drop down to $25 NL or $5 SnG's - if you are still on tilt your losses will at least be trivial and you know it's time to take a break. If you win you get your confidence back...take my week as a example..

This week I have been playing the Party $25's as part of the Party Challenge (start with $100 on the $25's and see how high you can go). The bad beats I suffered were tremendous, and I went on tilt, to the extent that 4 days in I had lost $113 (I had $12 left thanks only to Eurobet's $25 hands played bonus). I battled my way back up to $50 but still felt pretty lousy...

Then last night I found a true 24 carat gold maniac (91%Vp$iP, 26% PFR) with a huge stack ($130) sitting two seats to my right. His standard raise was $5! (doesn't give you the odds to set or fold small/medium pairs if you have full buy-in). He was running over the table like a truck. He wasn't totally stupid though and would back off on the turnr/river if his bullying didn't pay off.

I took some money of him with a set of QQ but had to give most of it it back when my AA hit an all diamond flop (no diamond ace) and he re-raised my pot-sized bet all-in on the flop (he was probbaly bluffing or on a flush draw but I thought I would find a better spot).

I decided to try to tilt him. I set him up with an all-in river bluff when a flush draw I was chasing missed (a high variance move but I had bet it all the way and was already in for 45% of my stack and put him a draw too). Then I showed it.
He was super-keen to stack me after that but of course I was waiting for a good spot - no more bluffs.

10 minutes later I got AKs and 2 folks called my pre-flop raise (he was one). Flop was rags but 2 diamonds and I checked. MP (with $5 stack) pushes, Bully raises pot-sized, I push all-in. Bully calls. My ace over card hits and I take down nice pot. 'Thank you' I say. He is steaming now and his stack is under $100 for the first time I've been seated there.

I keep waiting. Finally I get 88. He raises to $5 but my stack is $65 now and I have odds to call him and set. And I do I check. He bets pot. I call. On turn I check, he bets pot, I push my last $20 in , he calls and loses. Result I have $130 stack. He is down to $30 and drops out (notice still in profit for the day).

I won on the other 2 tables I was playing too and took my Challenge roll from $50 to $190 in less than 2 hours...am now $10 away from the $200 I need to move up to $50NL tables.. bring it on man...rock and roll..

Great story. I love seeing the maniacs bite it.

TR

aisthesis --

I wasn't talking about your experiment, although that was definately a favorite of mine too. As I recall, yours was based on going all in every time you held AA KK QQ or AKs at a NL25 table... Ice's was more like recording the exact EV everytime he got all his chips in when he was ahead, and recording the actual results for comparison.

I'm sure that was me nash

Although it was any AK whether AKo or AKs and it was the Pokerstars $50 Tables which I would buy-into for $20.

I got called a full 40% of the time and had the worst of it exactly twice out of 40 all-ins..

If I take a tough beat and it drops me below the buy in I don't immediately buy back in but wait to see if my play is going to be harmed. I'm all about buying back in full when I lose more than 1/5 of my stack and certainly 2/5, but waiting to buy back in I know that I'm going to handle my chips proper has worked out good for me.

I rarely tilt anymore, it is just a hand of cards, and there is going to be another one right after this one, I'm going to play a thousand of them today no reason to get emotionally involved with this one. If things don't work out as expected, hopefully they will soon, but it is gambling and screwy things happen. If the guy is a moron, I know he isn't leaving with the money unless he leaves now, I find that to be very comforting, I just hope I can be the one that takes it and he has some interest built up for me by then.

I don't mind getting beat when I play my hand proper, if there is no way out, then there is not much I can do, set over set, flush over flush when I have a really good one or getting outdrawn for way too much money. There is nothing to be upset over except the misfortune of holding an expensive second best.

I trust my reads, and play accordingly, if I misread a hand I take note of what they had the way it was played and adjust my thoughts on their hand in the future. My reads aren't 100% and never will be by the nature of the game. I can't get upset for misplaying a hand where I was flat out wrong even if it was for a massive amount of money, just make adjustments and play the next 200 hands that they will be at the table for properly. Maybe even use this lose as a way to run the same play with a better hand later.

If the beats are bothering me, I quit for a bit and come back later. It isn't like poker is going to dry up while I go for a walk to buy a Pepsi and peanuts at the corner store. Go out and get coffee with friends, watch some TV, do something besides play cards.