Over the past few years, I’ve noticed that one of the major problems plaguing good players and keeping them from reaching the next level is coping with the all of the bad beats. To this day, I still have trouble dealing with those particular days where it seems that nothing can go right. There are going to be times where it seems that you get sucked out on in every crucial spot deep in tournaments. One thing I have definitely learned is that if you can’t calm down after getting rivered by a two outer, you’re absolutely finished for the rest of the day. This anger from one beat will snowball into something much bigger, causing high stress in your life, and more importantly, costing you money. <READMORE>

Whenever a player takes a horrible beat (as ALL poker players do), most of them are inevitably going to steam and donk off money as a result of that one hand. That is, unless they have the mental toughness to simply shake it off and continue business as usual. To me, this is a redeeming quality of the upper echelon of poker players. Have you ever seen Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, or Chip Reese go on a tirade after getting outdrawn and let that affect their play? Compare this to the likes of Phil Hellmuth and Mike Matusow; perhaps this is a reason why the two of them can’t make it in the world of no-limit cash games. It’s quite different to get rivered and knocked out on day 2 of a $10000 buy-in tournament than losing a $200,000 cash pot in the same fashion.

I have spent many sleepless nights rehashing hands and wondering what could have happened had something gone differently. The sickest hand I can recall occurred at the final table of a FTOPS event a few months ago. We were three handed, and I was on the small blind with pocket queens. I had a chip lead over the other two of about 5:3:2, and the blinds were still relatively small. The button (2nd stack) open pushed for 40 big blinds, only to show 10 8 offsuit. I’m sure many of you can guess what happened-flopped and turned a 10 to take down the pot with three of a kind.

After picking up my laptop that I threw across the room, I tried to regroup and gather my thoughts. For some reason, though, that hand was still lingering in my memory, and negative voices in my head were saying, “That hand may have cost you the tournament,” and, “there’s a $42,000 difference between 1st and 2nd place money.” Sure enough, I busted out in second place after making a horrible call. To this day, I still have nightmares about that hand. Just recently, I have come to grips with the situation and have accepted the fact that certain things in this crazy game are simply out of your hands. There is no point in getting bent out of shape over mishaps where you did absolutely nothing wrong.

Last night, I played in a live cash game with this local guy named Matt. Matt is a decent player with lots of different moves, but he never seems to have a good time at the table. Matt is always complaining about someone hitting a draw on him, bad flops, and bad cards in general. I’ve played with Matt a total of about 40 hours in my life, and I’ve never seen the guy happy. There is no doubt in my mind that Matt is a winning player, but I believe he could have a much higher profit per session if he could simply quit bitching, relax, and try to have a good time while playing. Matt has many leaks in his game like most players, but if he would focus on being critical of his play instead of his bad luck, he would be much better off.

Try to be critical of yourself, not the cards that fall. To those players who are professionals and/or aspiring pros, PLEASE take a moment to be grateful for what you are able to do for a living. How many people in the world have the opportunity to make a large amount of money by traveling and meeting new people, all while playing a game? On top of this, you make your own schedule! There are many people who would kill for an opportunity like this, but they simply don’t have the intelligence or demeanor to be a great poker player. Variance is an inevitable part of the game, and it must be dealt with in a calm fashion.

If you are the type of player who lets one beat affect your game for the rest of the day, I strongly encourage you to find another hobby that can occupy your time instead of playing poorly for the remainder of your session. After taking a critical beat, take a few minutes to cool off before getting involved in another big pot or tournament. If you haven’t calmed down in a short period of time, I suggest you take the rest of the day off. Go play golf, visit relatives, have some “special time” with your significant other, or do whatever it may be that makes you feel good about yourself. Many players will react in the opposite fashion after this happens to them. They will feel that it’s necessary to quickly recoup their losses, and many times they will find a bigger game to play in. There’s nothing better than having a player on steam at your table, especially if it’s a pot limit or no limit cash game. These steam sessions can be a huge detriment to a player’s bankroll.

I hope this article will help all members of PocketFives.com think before they act impulsively after taking a horrible beat. Try to be extremely critical of your play after a setback, and I can assure you that it will save you money. Evaluate different ways that you could have played the hand, and compare the possible alternative outcomes. To those of you who can’t learn to control anger issues associated with poker, I hope to see you at my tables sometime in the near future!
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