Learning from the Bad Beat
OK you took a nasty bad beat, you busted out of the tournament on the bubble and you missed your freeroll online because you were in the tournament right up until the loudmouth from Chicago hit a nine on the river. We have already reminded you that no one wants to hear your bad beat story ….. but wait!
There is something to be learned from a bad beat and possible the best way to learn is to go over the hand with someone else who knows poker. NO! Don’t call me up and whine about your bad beat but, as with all of my poker buddies, you can call me and go over the hand. There are always questions.
-Could you have gotten away from the hand?
-Was that the right amount to bet?
-Could you have gotten him off the hand with a bigger bet early?
-Was that guy a calling station and if so, did you have the pot odds to take him to the river?
Sometimes you just get (bad) beat. But other times, you can do an analysis of the hand and come away with another way to play the situation that might save some of your chips. It is good to know when it really was just a huge bit of luck variance that took you out and when you actually had another play. It pays to do a post-game on your tournament and sometimes it even helps the pain when you go over the bad beat with a buddy who has been there.
-This is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #133
