Accept bad beats, improve your game
Written by Ben on August 4th, 2005
I think one of the things that seperates me from a lot of the people I play with is my ability to seperate my feelings from the game. I still get pissed off when I take a bad beat, but I don’t take it personally. And that’s the key. Poker, as I’ve said before, is a game about decisions. But it’s not a game where the best decision always wins - if it were it would be as boring as chess!
Instead, the best decisions have the best chance of winning. The best poker players in the world take bad beats along with everyone else.
I know plenty of people who are absolutely terrified of bad beats. They’re so scared that they change the way they play anytime there is a draw on the board! That is disasterous play. You’re even more likely to take a bad beat and lose all your chips if you change the way you play in fear of someone else getting lucky. I hear people tell me all the time “I hate aces!” What?! How can you possibly hate the best hand preflop? If you’re not making money with aces you need to find a new hobby because obviously poker isn’t your game.
My advice is this: play to win. Don’t play to avoid bad beats and don’t play to break even. Play to win. Bad beats will happen, but if you focus on making the best decision everytime you’re dealt a hand, you’re going to play a lot better.
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