To win playing poker you build a pot that you win having the strongest hand at the showdown. Whilst your opponent remains in the hand they too are building a pot hoping that they either have a strong hand already or draw to hit the necessary cards to improve to the winning hand. Once the hands are revealed, you may have done everything right during the hand in terms of bet sizing, raising or checking yet the one or two cards that your opponent was drawing for to win came out, thus costing you the pot. This is referred to as a “bad beat” meaning that luck rather than skill contributed to the winning hand this time. It can be very frustrating; no-one likes losing to a lucky player.
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Every poker player hates taking a bad beat, but we do enjoy a guilty pleasure at the recounting of bad beat stories. The following bad beats were played out at the World Series of Poker with the prizes on offer huge. This accentuates the bad beat pain for the players involved but that is what makes the hands memorable.
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Previously I have admitted having a guilty pleasure in listening to other people’s bad beat stories. It gives me both a laugh at the antics of some players and it also reminds me that when I suffer that painful experience it is not just me that poker beats with the bad beat stick. Someone on an Internet Forum asked the question about the funniest things people had seen after a bad beat and I thought you would enjoy hearing them. I do not know that every single one is true, but I expect they are. Bad beats cause the already crazy poker players to go even crazier.
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Ever the controversial character, Luke “__FullFlush1__” Schwartz has made few friends in his rise through pokers cash game levels. He is outspoken, brash and cocky and simply says what he thinks no matter whether people like it or not. In fact, the more edgy the comment the happier this young man seems to make it. He is a cash game player who has won a lot of money online, although the online community does not seem to like how he goes about it. It is unusual for a player who is successful to court negative opinion about themselves so openly and Luke does seem to have put a target on his back by being so abrasive.
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Even though he has won millions from poker and is one of the most recognisable names and faces on the planet when it comes to Texas Holdem, you still do not wish the bad beat like the one suffered by Daniel Negreanu on anyone. His opponent, eventual victor Barry Shulman needed an Ace and only an Ace to save him in an all-in confrontation. The river duly obliged, with one of the two remaining Aces left in the deck. We eagerly awaited Daniel to update his popular online Blog so we could get an insight into how he was feeling after missing out so closely on winning the WSOPE Main Event.
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