[broke4 your]

I suppose this is more in the way of "common sense" than anything
else, but I have noticed an interesting phenomenon with respect to
many of the bad beat stories (and BAHHs) that get posted on here.
This correlates to something I have observed in casino play as well.
Basically, it all boils down to the stakes. When people are playing
for micro-stakes, (i.e. 25 and 50 cent up to 50 cent and $1.00 blinds,
especially on the internet), it's not real poker. It seems that quite
a number of these bad beat stories are coming from folks who are
(literally) playing for peanuts. I used to play for relatively low
stakes (and in low fixed-limit games) until it finally dawned on me
that half the players at the table will routinely chase gutshot
straight draws (and 1-in-3 flush draws) because they can't really lose
that much money when they miss. And when you have pocket Aces, pocket
Kings, or ladies against three (or more) players, the odds are close
to even (or even less than even) that your premium hand will hold up.

It's a whole different animal once you move to no-limit. I don't play
for huge stakes. (I define "huge stakes" as the kind of money the
pros play for.) When I go to Tunica, I usually carry anywhere from a
thousand to $1,200.00 with me. I imagine MGM/Mirage and Boyd Gaming's
computers probably have me pegged as an "average" casino patron. (No
wait! Since I'm primarily a poker player - and not a slots player -
they probably have me pegged as an "undesirable" player. Ha! Ha!)

While I've had (a few) good trips to Tunica - where I've actually
managed to walk away a winner - I've also had a couple of sessions
where I took a nice punch in the stomach. (I define a "nice punch in
the stomach" as losing $600.00 on one hand when your pocket cowboys
fall to a pair of slow played pocket Aces.) While I'm in Tunica, I
usually play in low buy-in tournaments and $1 - $2 or $2 - $5 no-limit
cash games. This is solely my subjective observation, but it seems
that as the stakes get higher, the overall quality of play (and the
level of competition) tends to move up as well. You begin to see less
and less of people hitting gut shots and "miracle" one out draws -
mainly because players who are playing at these higher levels know
better than to chase long shot draws or do other stupid things - like
playing weak Aces from early position. Of course, having a BBJ (Bad
Beat Jackpot) of over $300,000.00 does affect the play to some extent,
but generally most good players will not call a huge flop bet with a
pair of pocket fives when there's an Ace showing on the board and
somebody (who raised preflop) has bet in to them. Of course, that's
not the case in limit poker ...

There are exceptions to all this I'm sure. Probably just about every
game, whatever the stakes, has at least one (usually drunken) idiot
who plays total garbage and sometimes wins, but overall - as the
stakes go up and you start playing for "real money" - the frequency of
really atrocious play tends to decrease. That is my observation. It
all boils down to the stakes.