Why So Many

[ennotserp]

Why are there so many bad beat stories in on-line poker?

Because
1) Playing on-line is a lot faster than real time (comparing hands per hour).
2) It is the nature of the game of Hold'em (and Omaha) ie. the river card generally helps only one player while hurting other players.
3) Freerolls have more donks than cash games because no money is lost.
4) It is an easier game to play than other games so new players like it better.
5) There are a lot more players on-line than in real cash games.

So do not blame the computer sites for your woes (eg Full Tilt) and if you can not stand the heat play 7-card stud instead (STILL THE BEST GAME).

My last bad beat - I called pocket AA all-in vs. pocket 88 (heads-up)
Flop - 8xx, Turn - A, River - (guess)

That's Hold'em for you.

[Drakken]

Also because people sometimes confound bad beats with miscalculatons or overrating their hands.

For instance, no matter if I hold pocket Aces, my opponent 33, 33A comes on the flop and we both go all-in, his hands was simply better than mine from the start. Hence, no bad beat.

However, if with the same hands and in the same situation, if the flop comes AKK, then 3 on the turn and 3 on the river, then it is a bad beat because the odds were all in my favour and, statistically, the hand was mine at 99%.

[NoWuckingFurries]

A lot of people want to blame things that happen to them onto someone else, because nothing in life is ever their fault. There are lots of these people in real life, so we find lots of them online too. Quite often if they played more aggressively these "bad beats" would happen to them a lot less frequently than they actually do.

[GypsyTea]

Originally Posted by NoWuckingFurries

A lot of people want to blame things that happen to them onto someone else, because nothing in life is ever their fault. There are lots of these people in real life, so we find lots of them online too. Quite often if they played more aggressively these "bad beats" would happen to them a lot less frequently than they actually do.

Good Post

GT

[hojediade]

I agree with you guys.
Just want to say that i can complain sometimes, but mostly about the way i played.

In my opinion, bad beats ain't so often, but as you said some players don't really know what is a bad beat as when they loose a pot it will always be a bad beat, in some mysterious way.

[Drakken]

My method of thinking is that "real" bad beats are not the result of bad play. On the contrary, it was good play that was not rewarded by the cards. Bad beats, by definition, go against the rawest of odds, and to be on the losing side of a bad beat means, ironically, that you were doing something good. Thinking that helps me to put these losses in their context, and decreases the chance of going on tilt.

What I find weird, however, are hearing some players blame either the other player for "playing like a donk" or going on a conspiracy rant about the cards being rigged. Bad beats are odds strokes of probabilities. Usually it's not anyone's fault if everyone is legit, it is all random.

But perhaps I am more zen about it because I work in a field that involves some basic understanding of probability.

Also, bear in mind confirmation bias. People are much more likely to remember and tell about bad beats to which they lost, than bad beats to which they won. I got my stacks saved quite a few times by bad beats which went in my favour despite bad odds and/or misreads and miscaculation. That's what poker is about.

[032483]

Maybe it does just feel worse online. Not to mention when you get sucked out on in public you have to atleast be civilised. but when you get sucked out on in your living room you can flip your shit.

[ndirish620]

I think you only hear the bad beats. People arent gonna come and show how they got lucky and won a pot on the turn.

[willie beaman]

To sum up the problem, loose players and the law of averages. If not for the latter, the game itself would be rigged.

[Aces_killa1]

Well that sucks man, bad beats do happen tho, and you just got to fight through them