Sep

15

A Bad Beat, from Steve Leslie

September 15, 2008 |

KingsOne thing you learn from poker is that you can play the hand perfectly and still lose. There are never-ending ways to lose a hand of poker. All long term players realize that humble pie does not taste very good. To extrapolate from Dr. Keynes, The game can remain irrational far longer than you can remain solvent.

Bad beat story: I am short stacked in a cash game. Woman to my right puts in a small raise pre-flop. I call with wired 9-9. Flop comes 9 K 3. Woman puts in a small bet. I go over the top and go all in, hoping she has some sort of a hand and begging a call. She beats me into the pot and calls. I show her my three 9s and she shows me a pair of Kings to go with the one on the flop. Of course her hand holds up and wipes me out for the day. The odds have got to be a few in a thousand that this happens. But it happened to me. And at the worst point in time. Murphy's Law prevails again.

Ironically, I saw the same thing happen to Daniel Negreanu get knocked out of the World Series of Poker with an identical scenario. He rolled up a set on the flop only to have an opponent roll up a better set.

As Forrest Gump said "It Happens."


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4 Comments so far

  1. CounterClckWise on September 17, 2008 2:04 pm

    Actually, that’s a cooler not a bad beat. A bad beat is when someone sucks out on your better hand after the money’s in the pot. A cooler is when you’re destined to lose your stack with the second-best hand. But you’re right, it definitely don’t taste good.

  2. We Are...Penn State email list on September 17, 2008 6:06 pm

    Set over set stinks, but that's poker. Play long enough and you'll have it happen in your favor. And about one time in 25 you'll make quads and bad beat Ms. Set of Kings.

    Since poker is a zero-sum game (excluding the rake) I'm not sure how Murphy's law applies here. Things went wrong for only half the people in this hand.

  3. Matt Johnson on September 19, 2008 1:25 pm

    It's not Murphy, you bet too much, you didn't have a 100% winner, yet you allowed you emotions to over rule good judgment; now I understand this is no limit, so you get forced into situations — I think no limit has very little to do with trading. No one is bigger than the market.
    I play limit — and I tinker with my betsizing — I think this is closer to real trading.

  4. We Are...Penn State email list on September 28, 2008 12:40 am

    Matt Johnson: “It’s not Murphy, you bet too much, you didn’t have a 100% winner, yet you allowed you emotions to over rule good judgment.”

    That’s silly. Given the situation, short-stacked and facing a small bet, he was right to shove with a set. The vast majority of the time he’s a monster favorite. Exactly one hand (KK) has him beat and he has every other possible hand in very bad shape. If you’re not going to get all your money on the table in that spot, you shouldn’t be playing no limit.

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