Since getting good cards and getting them cracked by one or two-outers is just something that happens in poker, we get some use for these bad beats by talking and writing about them. Poker player’s love reading or hearing about bad beat stories, even if it is just to remind them that some other poor soul is suffering just like they do. Luck is a part of the game we love because it sometimes helps us and we hate because it sometimes hurts us. We never remember our lucky moments, but the bad beats are visible just like scars on your skin. For whatever reason, hearing how a pair of Aces lost to 7 2 offsuit never gets old. In order for you to write or tell a great bad beat story, here is how you do it.
You must give out all the details of the hand. Poker players will analyse your hand hoping they can expose a terrible play rather than a beat. Players enjoy touting their poker prowess and will be more than happy to say that your hand was not a bad beat just a fish swimming through the shark pool. So make sure your bad beat is a bad beat. You can succinctly tell the story of the hand quickly. For example, “I was on the button with AA. My stack was 100,000 with the blinds at 5,000 – 10,000 with $500 ante. Folded around to me I made it $35,000 and was called by the big blind that had a stack of 1 million….etc. This sounds good and your opponents will remember how well you told your bad beat story next time they face you at the poker table.
I would not share a bad beat story that has come out of a freeroll tournament, unless the freeroll tournament has a significant prize that you miss out on because of the beat. I remember a friend of mine regaling a story about his flopped full house losing to a better full house on the river. This cost him $2000 – in play money chips! The listening players who had just busted out of a private £50 buy-in game nearly choked on their beers laughing. It certainly was a bad beat, but what makes a beat is what it costs you and unfortunately for my friend the only thing he lost was his credibility.
Before making yourself look silly with a “bad play” story rather than a bad beat story review the hand to be sure. Losing when you are a 70% favourite is just poker. A 95% chance of victory scuppered on the river is a bad beat. That brings me to another essential ingredient to your poker beat story; you need to know the odds. Poker players should always be thinking about odds and percentages so showing you did the right thing throughout the hand and still lost builds the credibility of the bad beat. Not knowing the odds shows you to be a weak player who would probably lose whether luck was on your side or not.
Using the correct terminology is important too. Talking about a boat, wheel, bullets, holding a Dolly Parton should be utilised in the right place to sound better. (The above terms mean Full House, Ace to Five Straight, Pocket Aces and the 9 5 starting hand after Dolly Partons famous song).
If you are writing about a beat using the above pointers will ensure it is entertaining and fun to read or listen to. Remember to write without bitterness and try to embrace the variance that you have endured and appreciate that you have got to write a great article or post from it. (Yes, very difficult!) After you have written about it you can satisfy yourself that it was just bad luck and you are still a great player and move on to hopefully more skill based situations.
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