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How To Use Bad Beats To Your Advantage
I can remember it clearly, when I first started playing online poker I'd log on to a low-stakes game thinking I'd win easily against all the fish. I'd make my deposit, buy-in to a tournament or ring game and use the same strategies I'd use in casinos and local cash games.
But in no time sometimes minutes I'd be out of money. Poof! just like that. Back to zero. I'd think to myself, Wow, I just caught a cold streak of cards I'll make it back. I'd put in another deposit (this time without the bonus) and play again, Poof! Gone again. And again. And again.
Then I started thinking, Wow, these poker rooms must be rigged somehow, or someone must be cheating. The worst part was when I'd catch a bad beat. But not just one bad beat, It seemed I was catching them constantly, way more than in regular poker, I'd hit trips and put my opponent on two pair, only to learn that he chased an inside straight draw and hit it on the river. Opponents would bet middle-pair aggressively, and then make three-of-a-kind on the turn.
I'd have K-Q and the flop would come K-10-3. I'd bet my top pair aggressively and my opponent would call. Then I'd watch in awe as he beat me with A-5 as the Ace fell on the river, then I'd scream at my computer: What in the world was he calling with? This is complete bulls$&#@ what an idiot!
Has this ever happened to you? If so, give me a silent nod. Now here's the thing, after a lot of frustrated nights of cursing at the avatars on my computer, I made a breakthrough.
It was this breakthrough that helped me turn my online poker game into a profitable, money-making machine, the same as when I played in casinos and cash games. What was this breakthrough? I started to use the bad beats to my advantage. Yes, you read that right. Now hear me out... It all started when I finally asked myself one crucial question: Could it actually be my fault that I'm suffering all these bad beats? And the answer was yes. Indeed. I wasn't necessarily causing them to happen. But I was letting them happen over and over.
You see, online poker is ripe for bad beats. If you've played much, you already know what I'm talking about. The reason is because the amateurs chase when they shouldn't, bet when they shouldn't, and call when they shouldn't. It's that simple. Now as I've explained before, when you pick up a monster hand pre-flop you must narrow the table down to one or two callers. Do not see a flop with pocket Kings with five other players in the hand. You'll lose. The solution is to raise extremely aggressively, more so than you'd do at the local casino. Then the odds are fully in your favor going into the flop, and your chances of getting "sucked out" decrease dramatically. Now the same exact concept can be extended to your betting patterns after the flop. It just gets more tricky. For instance, let's say you limp-in with a hidden hand like suited-connectors or a small pocket pair. Then you hit big on the flop. What do you do? Obviously there are a lot of considerations. But in general, the natural thing to do is slow-play it But online, you can't do that if there are multiple players in the hand. Because that's what leads to bad beats. The key is to bet aggressively and always find out where you stand against your opponents. And when I say aggressive, I mean aggressive. You'll have to risk more chips than you're used to in order to get rid of the chasers. To find out where you stand in the hand, you've got to use some special techniques. The first is simple, raise. If your opponent is chasing, he probably won't go over the top of you. But if he's already made a hand, he'll re-raise. Another technique is to simply make two very large bets in a row. Anyone who calls Two large bets in a row after the flop and turn probably already made a good hand. Also, watch for check-calls. That's when you have positioning on your opponent and he checks, then calls your bet. This is a sure sign of a chaser, or someone with a marginal hand. Check-call usually translates to: Please don't bet, Please don't bet. Damn! He bet. Oh well I have to call. I have to see the next card. OK, one last point. Don't be afraid of scaring everyone out of the pot. Sometimes you'll mis-judge the situation and everyone will fold to your bet or raise and all you'll have won are some blinds. That's OK. It will happen, but it's better to err on the side of too aggressive rather than getting busted. If you know your opponent is on a draw MAKE HIM PAY FOR IT. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you let him see a free river. Because if he misses he's going to fold. This is where your all-in move is good.
The key is to LEVERAGE those loose players by UNDERSTANDING what makes them "tick". LEVERAGE means RAISING THE STAKES. You've got to put all your money in the middle and be OK with losing it 1/5 of the time... and enjoy the rewards
of winning MASSIVE POTS the other four times.
Now the IMPLICATION of raising the stakes is that you must CHOOSE BATTLES WISELY. Don't bluff very much... certainly not from the beginning of a hand. Only bluff towards the end when you sense weakness.
Choose the high-stakes showdowns when you've already made a hand... not when you're on a draw.
And do it against opponents who don't have as many chips as you...
When you take everything into consideration, you realize it's not just about "betting big". It's about adopting BAD BEATS into your OVERALL STYLE OF PLAY.
For example, you'll think twice about getting into a showdown with 60:40 odds (in your favor) when
you're playing in a big tournament. Because you know that there's a 40% chance of getting
ELIMINATED... and you know that your opponent is probably loose enough to risk all his chips on it.
It's the same way with something like flush and straight draws. How you play them will depend on WHERE you're playing them...
Ring game? Multi-table tournament? 6-player Sit and Go? And WHO are you playing them against... Chip leader or short stack?
And at WHAT STAKES?
Listen... the thing that immediately transformed my online poker game was simply realizing that all the bad beats were coming for a REASON.
Don't just play the cards... and don't just play the players... also play the fact that PEOPLE WILL MAKE IRRATIONAL DECISIONS.
Risk lots when the odds are in your favor... and don't count on your opponents being too intelligent. You'll start winning HUGE POTS by feeding on the "fish".
Here's something SCARY... Rumor has it that 99% of online poker players LOSE money over time. Yeah... 99%.
A portion of that is because of the rake, of course. I mean... if you play break-even all the time you'll end up DOWN because of the rake. But the rake doesn't account for THAT big of percentage!
If this is true that 99% of online poker players are losers, it means something VERY important...THAT 1% IS MAKING A FORTUNE!
Think about it: The only other place for all that money to go (besides the rake) is to those winners! Crazy to imagine, huh?
Now if you're one of those LOSING players right now, you have three options:
1. Stop playing and go spend your money somewhere else.
2. Keep playing for the fun of it... and think of your losses as the price of "entertainment".
3. Figure out how to be in that top 1%.
Option three is pretty damn sweet... I'm not gonna lie. Because there's nothing better than knowing you can sit on the couch in your underwear, click your mouse a few times, and START MAKING MONEY.
More advanced strategy articles below.
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