One of the hardest things to deal with when you’re playing low-stakes cash games is bad beats. When you’re playing against people who call frequently and chase draws constantly, you’re going to face more suckouts on the river.
As someone who has played millions of hands at the lowest limits of online poker, I know this feeling all too well. I sometimes joke to people that I've probably taken more bad beats than anyone in history!
In this article I will give you some tips on how I deal with all the bad beats and suckouts that you will necessarily encounter in the lower limits of cash games.
Accept the bad beats
Again, it needs to be stated that at the lower limits (online or live) you will simply face more bad beats than at other limits. The reason this will happen is that there are a lot more bad players at these limits calling everything with low pairs or chasing some ridiculous draws.
The point is to understand that this is a great thing. The reason winrates are typically much higher at lower limits than at higher limits is precisely because you have all these weak players willing to call with any hand.
Of course, this means that you will face suckouts more often. Higher limit players are more likely to fold their weak hands earlier than most lower limit players.
But it's important to understand that there will always be more value in playing against these players because of one simple fact - most of the time they won't hit.
Sometimes we get so upset when they hit their four outs on the river against us that we forget the simple math of the game. Most of the time when they play like this, they miss their four outs, one of the forty-six cards comes, and we win the pot with the best hand.
As painful as it is to lose to something ridiculous like a gutshot straight draw, when you look at it from a broader perspective, you can actually laugh about it. You should be glad that there are players at your limits willing to play so poorly, because more often than not the pot will go to you.
Suckouts represent a tax that we all sometimes have to pay.
Another way to look at bad beats and suckouts is to consider them a “tax” we must pay to continue playing against players with such low skill.
The reason bad players keep coming back to play (and depositing again) is because they can blame their lack of success on bad luck. Ego is a very real thing in poker. As far as driving goes, most people rate their skills higher than they actually are. When a recreational player hits his ridiculous draw on the river against you, it is actually a vindication in that player’s mind that luck is finally on his side!
It’s hard to think of another game where skill is based in the long term, but luck has such an incredible influence in the short term. And that’s a wonderful thing. It allows players to ignore the obvious and fool themselves into thinking that they only lose because of bad luck. That’s what fuels the game – the illusion.
This is why I prefer to think of bad beats and suckouts from recreational players as a tax that I sometimes have to pay. In fact, it's a tax that we all have to pay sometimes. It's what keeps the poker economy going. If bad players weren't able to get lucky sometimes, they would stop playing and the profitability of the game would plummet.
Everything is crazier online
The last thing you need to know about bad beats is that when you play online they will come faster and more frequently than you have ever experienced before. This is, in fact, one of the main reasons why live players have a hard time adapting to online play.
When you're playing live you might only see 30 hands per hour. But online, a typical 6-handed no-limit hold'em table will allow you to receive three times as many hands in the same amount of time. And when you're referring to the zoom tables of PokerStars, you could be seeing ten times more hands than if you were playing live.
This just means that when you are seeing a lot more hands, you are going to see a lot more bad beats and suckouts. Many people mistakenly think that there must be something wrong with the way the cards are dealt online or that the sites are trying to manipulate it in some way, but in reality they are failing to realize that the pace of the game online is simply much faster than it is in live play.
This is especially the case when you consider that most people will also be playing multiple tables at the same time. Since you're seeing hands at a much faster rate online, you're also going to see more, much more bad beats. There's no getting around that.
Conclusion
Many people view bad beats and suckouts as a negative part of the game. In fact, they cause a high percentage of players to tilt, especially if many of them occur in succession.
However, when you learn to embrace the craziness of lower stakes cash games, you can discipline yourself to deal with bad beats in a more positive manner. You want bad players to try to hit your draws because you know that more often than not they will miss.
Furthermore, you even want them to be able to get it right sometimes, since that's what keeps them playing and coming back for more. If they weren't able to get lucky every now and then, they'd see the reality – that they're actually constantly being dominated – and give up.
The next time a bad player hits you with his miracle cards on the river, discipline yourself to react to it in a positive way. Bad beats and suckouts are a necessary part of the game and they add up to a lot of good in the long run. Laugh it off, pay your fee, and move on to the next hand.
Article translated and adapted from the original: How to Deal with BadBeats from Bad Poker Players
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