If you are going to play poker, either online or off, you will lose some hands that you really "should" have won. Otherwise known as a "bad beat." By this I mean, you are such an odds on favorite that winning the lottery would seem probable compared to losing the hand. How poker players react to these losses, bad beats, bad luck, however you want to refer to it, is something that I think is over looked. Losing hands that you are sure to win can affect you poker "mind set" both in the short term and the long term. Learning to handle these situations is crucial to becoming a better player.

Here is a hand that I played about 2/3 through a Full Tilt Sit n Go the other night.

There were about 40 players left in the 180 player tournament. I had a chip stack of about 14,800 when I was dealt pocket 7's in middle position. The Blinds were $600-$300 and the player under the gun raised to $1200, or 2x the Big Blind. I made the call, figuring I was up against over-cards, but wanting to see if I could hit a set on the flop. Everyone else folded except for the player on the button who called as well.

The Flop came T-7-5 rainbow. Nearly a perfect flop for me. No flush draws to worry about and no over cards on the board, I was sitting pretty with a set of 7's.

The player in early position made a pot sized bet of $4200. Great. I couldn't ask for more. I decide to slow play and make the call. To my surprise, the player on the button calls as well.

The Turn is a 2. The player in early position bets again, all-in with about another $8,000 in chips. I have no problem calling with my remaining $9400. Again, the button player calls as well.

The early position player flips over pocket 5's. Bad luck for him: he hit a set, but I hit a higher set. Not much you can do about that, but frustrating for him, great for me. The button turns over pocket Q's!

I don't see at this point how any of us played this hand badly. Sometimes you just run into situations where someone had a monster hand. Right now, I am about a 93% favorite to win this hand. You cannot ask for better odds than that.

The River is a Q and I am knocked out of the tournament!

As much as I want to throw my computer out the window at this point, I played the hand correctly and got horribly unlucky. Rather than complain that online poker is rigged, call the other players names, etc. I just have to move on. Sometimes this happens and you can't let it affect your attitude.  For immediate delivery of more information on this subject in my 100% money back guarantee ebook, please click here.

I would rather lose a hand playing good poker than I would lose a hand by playing stupidly any day. If you play the best that you can and get your money in when you have the highest chance of winning, then that is all you can do. The odds will even out eventually. It doesn't make it any better at that moment in time, but that is the way you have to view it. Otherwise, you become a conspiracy theorist and it affects your game. Here is a hint, if you start wondering if online poker is rigged, you have let bad beats affect your mind-set. Don't let this happen to you.

Sincerely,

Chris Wilcox
InternetPokerCoach.com