Everyone has bad beat stories and most people get tired of hearing them. We all know someone who just can’t help but tell them all the time, while others make hands into bad beats when they were really just bad plays. I’m sure I’ve told my share of bad beat stories too.

I have a different approach to bad beat stories. When I feel compelled to tell one or when other people are telling theirs and I want to change the topic, I will tell a bad beat story. But, instead of one where I lost,I make it a story where I got lucky and put a beat on someone else. At first, it was hard for me to avoid telling the normal bad beat stories, but once I got into the habit of not doing it, I saw some changes I liked.

I became more responsible for my own play and my own mistakes instead of focusing on the beats that everyone takes over time. I became more aware of what really is a bad beat and gained a better appreciation for the moods of others when I was actively looking for hands I bad beat them on.

My go-to reverse bad beat story came from a Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better game I was playing where we ended up with a four-way all-in and I was all but drawing dead. I had two aces in my hand and a bad low draw, but with all of the other hands that were turned up, the only way I could win was with running aces. An ace on the turn gave me a one-outer, which jumped right out there on the river for me to scoop a nice pot.

In reality, I played the hand poorly, betting an amount that left me feeling committed to the pot when I knew I was in bad shape. At multiple stages, I could have made different decisions to get away from the hand without having all of my chips in the middle, but I didn’t and ended up getting very lucky, truly putting a runner-runner bad beat on a few players with huge hands.

Using this as my bad beat story does a couple of things for me. It keeps me grounded by reminding me every time how poorly I played that hand, it plays up to my reputation of being extremely lucky, which I like to promote and encourage, and it lets me avoid complaining and whining about beats I take. When you play with the same group of players regularly, the last thing they want to hear is a winning player complaining about losing a pot.

At some point, I’ll tell someone some sort of bad beat story, but they are few and far between. I am much happier and enjoy the game more now that I have trained myself to avoid telling any sort of bad beat story where I am on the losing end.

Court Harrington has worked on the business side of the poker industry in roles including tournament reporting for PocketFives, radio hosting for PokerRoad Radio, coaching for the WSOP Academy and privately, and a variety of behind-the-scenes responsibilities. He also plays in cash games and tournaments. Harrington is currently doing consulting work and exploring business opportunities outside of the poker industry. You can contact him at Court@CourtHarrington.com.

Don’t forget that PocketFives offers a Bad Beat Forum. Try posting a bad beat you put on someone else.