Simple Limit River Beats (cash)

BAD BEAT

Limit can be frustrating and these hands reflect simple beats I took by players who love to call down to the river. You must be patient enough to wait for these types of players to keep doing what they're doing because in the long run, you'll win if they continue to make calls like this. In the first hand, I was an 89% favorite on the turn, while in the second hand, I was an 86% favorite.

One Out Straight Flush (cash)

GOOD BEAT

I had only one out on this hand and faced a made flush and a nut flush draw. Looking back on it, I should have just called on the turn and raised on the river. I was hoping that someone with the nut flush would raise, but the guy with the ace of hearts was smart and saved himself some bets. One out translates to 9.19% against these two opponents on the turn.

Flopped Boat Loses to River Boat (tourney)

BAD BEAT

I was wondering if I should put this under "good beat" but because I lost, I guess it has to be a bad beat.

Behind and dominated big time, I hoped to flop a set and I did. However, Lady Luck just wasn't happy with me and decided to get me on the river. I thought my opponent only had two outs, but he actually had two more outs - a ten would also help giving him four outs and about a 9% dog on the turn.

I thought it was over for him after this hand, but I actually came back from being the short stack to getting third (out of 18).

Counterfeited on the River (tourney)

DEFINITION

What I hate about this hand is not that I lost, but the big stack had to say, "it's bedtime" just to justify his lame call. Then he made it worse by saying, "that sucked" after the hand. Oh well. That's poker.

Everybody Wins (cash)

Everyone actually wins in this pot. I don't think anyone folded.

Four Aces After Bad Flop (cash)

GOOD BEAT

I had the best hand going in and took a bad flop. I just called the flop bet since I had a feeling my opponent had flopped something good. But I knew I had him when I hit my set on the turn. It was just cake when it improved to four of a kind on the river.



Then look at what I folded just three hands later.

Another Ace on the River (tourney)

BAD BEAT

Just another day in the office of bad beats. As usual, a larger stack calls with a marginal hand and is completely dominated. On the turn, he is a 7% underdog, but Lady Luck has her way and gives him his miracle card on the river.

Jack on the River (cash)

BAD BEAT

This isn't a huge hand, but it turns out to be more interesting than at first glance. When I noticed that my opponent called the turn bet with a gut-shot straight, I thought he had more outs than what he really had. A gut-shot 5 would have indeed given him a straight, but it would have given me an even higher straight. That meant that he only had three jacks that were outs, and that is why he was just a 7% dog on the turn. Of course, knowing all this just made the bad beat even worse.

Two Last Hands Bust Me Out (tourney)

BAD BEAT

The first hand was pretty close actually. I was just a 67% favorite on the flop and turn. But I hate it when players get lucky and beat you with a straight or flush when you've got a good hand against them. But that's Lady Luck for you.

The last hand was particularly brutal because I got lucky on the turn. I thought Lady Luck wanted to do me some good since I was a 28% dog pre-flop and a 13% dog on the flop. I needed a jack to survive and she gave it to me on the turn, making me a 93% favorite with one card left. That Lady Luck, she's a heart-breaker.

Overcards and Flush Draw Loses (cash)

BAD BEAT

I wasn't sure that I was ahead when my opponent pushed it all-in to "protect" his top pair. However, I was actually slightly ahead at 54% on the flop. In fact, I was just a 41% dog on the turn. So although I lost, I felt good about calling quickly since my instincts were correct.

Gut-shot Gets Me (cash)

BAD BEAT

I was waiting to get in a hand against this player because I'd been noticing he was a pretty poor player. I wanted to trap him and felt like I had a chance, but he caught his gut-shot straight on the turn and doubled-up against me. I went from a 84% favorite to a 26% dog from the flop to the turn.

Limit Straight on the River (cash)

BAD BEAT

I was worried about a flopped straight, especially with the raise and re-raise going on. Even though I ended up with a horrible river card, I liked that I pretty much made the correct calls the entire way down. I even made the correct fold on the river, but that wasn't too tough of a fold considering the board.

Were My Aces Cracked? (cash)

LAYDOWN

I felt like I played the hand wrong, but after looking it over, I don't think I made a bad laydown considering what the board looked like and after seeing an early position big river bet.

Two Hand Bust Out (tourney)

BAD BEAT

Two hands is all it takes to bust out of a tourney. Actually, it just takes one hand, but against this opponent, I was the favorite on both hands. Unfortunately, Lady Luck just had to have it her way.

I was a 74% favorite on the flop on the first hand. With few chips left, I was surprised to find myself heads-up against the same player, but this time I dominated him even more. I was an 88% favorite on the turn.

Gut-Shot Slow-Played Bad Beat (cash)

BAD BEAT

In limit, you should rarely slow-play. You should always try to pummel your opponent until he withers away. In this case, I decided to slow-play since I was up against just one opponent. I didn't want to scare him away and gave him a free card. The river turned out to be only one of the four cards that could beat me. I was a 91% favorite on the turn.

Two Hand Tilt (cash)

BAD PLAY

Here's a perfect example of how your game can be affected when you go on tilt. For the past two rounds when I was on the button, I had raised so I think my opponent got sick of it and decided to make a stand. I wasn't sure if he had nothing or if he was anticipating my raise so he could re-raise me. Whatever the case may have been, I ended up folding the hand unsure of what he had.

On the very next hand, I decided to make a stand and just fell into his trap. Even when I re-raised on the turn, my mind was not sharp enough to realize I was dead on the river. Why call the last bet when I knew I was beat? The only hand I could beat was a bluff and with a board like that, would my opponent really bluff all the way down to the river? Of course not! But when you're on tilt, it's nearly impossible to think straight and you will end up donking off some chips.

Limit Frustration Rush (cash)

BAD BEAT

Limit is a game that I am having trouble figuring out. Am I just getting unlucky, or am I not playing correctly? It's probably going to take some research and more play to figure out. Meanwhile, here's a series of hands I played recently and the percentages associated with them. When things go this way, I think it's best to just get up and quit. Otherwise, you'll probably go on tilt and donk off the rest of your chips.

In this first hand, I had pocket queens while three of my opponents had an ace. That meant there was only one ace left in the deck. Of course, it had to flop.






In a later hand, I started with pocket aces and someone ended up catching trips against me on the turn.






I finally decided to quit when my pocket kings could not hold-up against someone trying to catch a gut-shot straight, but ended up hitting an ace on the river.