Poker players worldwide can attest to the fact that bad beats are annoying and exhausting emotionally. Such games of continuous losing to inferior hands than yours are difficult to deal with.
You could be holding pocket aces and be certain of winning, only to see your competitor draw a straight on the final card. This kind of bad beat can be unnerving and hard to take.
Your skill level and experience can be measured by how well you take bad beats. This article is going to guide you through bad beats in a very detailed way and show you list of online casinos, where you can enjoy poker.
What are bad beats, then?
Poker is random in nature, and bad beats (beaten by a weaker hand), characterize this randomness. They happen at any moment and to even the most seasoned players. Being beaten following a bad beat can emotionally exhaust one.
The player can feel frustrated, disappointed, or even hopeless at such a juncture. Identification of the same is the first requirement to check for maintaining them in order. Most players are usually overpowered by frustration in the moment. Online poker is useful in such a scenario. Let us understand why.
As you play poker online, your opponent cannot see that you are frustrated with the bad beat. This means that they cannot taunt you with your emotions. This anonymity can enable you to stay calm and come back on track.
The special opportunities provided by online poker
As you play poker online, you have several opportunities to cope with bad beats. The following are some of the main points to consider:
Emotional control
Unlike the game, poker is about knowing where you stand in a player's head. Every time you are on the losing end of a deal, the natural reaction is to vent anger through your actions. However, unlike in live poker, it is less in-your-face. This is for your benefit as a player because you can take time to reflect before making a move without the pressure of being judged by other players.
Anonymity and disguise
Sometimes it is best to conceal your emotions. If you are playing poker online, then you can keep playing while not showing your emotions. It is helpful when you start moving into a catastrophically loss-incurring position.
Access to resources
Internet poker websites have a number of features and tools that help participants deal with bad beats. One may score, view the outcome, replay game play, and identify where one went wrong. Such tools help an individual transition from gesturing towards one problem that causes frustration to milestones that enable improvement.
Ways of coping with bad beats
It is achievable to maintain a cool head when having a bad beat. Below are some guidelines that will help you stay calm and concentrate better and also play better:
1. Identify your feelings
Never allow your emotions dictate the way you play, but accept them, deal with them, and move forward, in order. Identifying and managing your own emotions is helpful when preparing yourself better for future turnarounds.
2. Use Online Tools
Use performance tracker software and previous hand analysis. These applications help you shift your mindset from frustration to learning, especially from mistakes.
3. Breaks
If you experience a streak of consecutive losses, it is not a bad idea to halt the game. Take a break from the game for a while. A slight break can give your mind a new perspective and your heart a break and chance to rejuvenate.
4. Mind the Long Game
Poker is not a short-term sport, and a bad beat does not equate to the demise of your session or your poker career. Think about what can be decided now and keep in mind the immediate consequences of such decisions.
Snap Out of a Bad Streak
When you get a few negative beats, it takes time to come out of negativity. These are some of the effective techniques to get out of this mindset:
- Change Your Environment: Sometimes the environment needs to be changed. If you feel stagnant, log off and play another game or switch tables. Occasionally, a change of scenery and a fresh new start on the game is in order.
- Deal with Others: Stay in touch with people, and do not mind getting your stories out. Poker has been discovered to be effective in helping people win at work with knowledge learned from the game. Just as it happens in a workplace, being open with others may prompt them to give you the proper perspective and hence motivate you to improve your game.
- Stay Positive: Surround yourself with positive people. Keep the poker masters you look up to and who give you good advice around.
Conclusion
You already know bad beats are inevitable when it comes to playing poker. Emotions experienced from bad beats are difficult to cope with. For you to overcome a bad beat, you need to know how to deal with emotions and snap out of the bad run.