Poker News

Tom ‘Time’ Leonard

What really is a bad beat? Well, the definition from the glossary of Doyle’s Bible is, “When you get a big hand cracked (beaten) by someone who was a big dog against you and made his longshot draw…you’re said to have had a bad beat”. Sklansky and Malmuth in their glossary of terms add another dimension to the definition which I believe iscritical. They add, “Especially when the person drawing was playing incorrectly by being in the pot in the first place”. Every time I see a big hand cracked several players around the table lament what a bad beat the loser of the hand suffered. Hogwash! You need to set your expectations on how strong your hand really is and if it is at all vulnerable. In my opinion, true bad beats seldom occur.

Let me share a hand from a recent session in which I happened to be the victim of being beat like a drum by the same player several times and when the following hand occurred the consensus of the table was that I had suffered yet another bad beat. I was in the big blind and was able to get in for free with 8-6 offsuit. The flop came down 7-9-10 with two diamonds. Flopping a straight when you didn’t even have a hand worth playing is a pretty good feeling. Since the flop had two diamonds and I didn’t have the nuts, I wasn’t about to slow play my straight I bet out and was called in two spots.

The turn was an offsuit King and I bet again. The first player raised, the second player folded and I re-raised. The original raiser called and we saw the King of diamonds hit the river. A paired board with three diamonds! Hmmmm…..I checked and my opponent bet and I called to see her lay down Kings full of tens. A bad beat? I don’t think so. She held King/Ten offsuit and hit top pair/good kicker on the flop. Then made top two pair on the turn and yes, was lucky to make her full house on the river but was never out of line. Hell, I would have played the hand the same way that she did. Sure it stung to flop the second nut straight and then wind up losing to a full house but my opponent was correct in the way she played her hand.

One of the few hands that I feel qualify as a bad beat occurred about three years ago. I had pocket Queens in mid position and it had been brought in for a raise. I three bet it and the big blind capped it at four bets. When the big blind overraises that is a major red flag for a big hand. I put the BB on Aces or Kings and the flop came down Ace/three of diamonds and the Queen of spades. I hit a set of Queens but was still concerned about being up against a set of Aces. The BB bet and I raised. Everyone but one other player got out of the way and the BB reraised and both of us just called. The turn was the fourth Queen and the BB bet again. I raised and the third player called and it wound up being capped. The river brought the four of diamonds and the BB bet again. I raised, the third player now dropped and the BB and I raised back and forth several times when I realized no matter how improbable it was that he held a winning hand that the board did hold a straight flush possibility. I finally called and watched my opponent turn over the two & five of diamonds.

Well that my friends is a bad beat. The big blind had capped the original betting with a piece of total junk! As much as that stung, I felt if this player could get that far out of line I should be able to get my chips back.

Our goal for this session is simply to understand the nature of the game and develop realistic expectations as to how hands will hold up and not consider every hand we lose on the river as a bad beat. Real bad beats don’t come around that often so don’t become focused on a negative aspect of the game. See you next “TIME”.

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