Do you ever get frustrated when that “river” card brings a monster hand to your opponent? Or when you finally get those great cards, but your opponent gets even better ones? For online play, most players will complain about the RNG being rigged, but in reality- such situations happen during live sessions, almost as often as online. In this article I will try to help you learn a few tips on how to prevent bad beats online, using your skills to prevent such situations.

 

Let’s do through some of the basics first (clicking any of the links below will take you to an external page):

• Bad Beat Definition
• Poker Hands Combinations

 

There are two types of bad beats:

BAD BEAT #1…

When you catch a monster hand but lose to a BIGGER monster hand.

For example, let’s say you’re holding pocket Aces and the flop hits A-6-6. That means you’ve got a full house.

Your opponent goes ALL-IN… and you call. You think your Aces are the best hand but they’re NOT, because your opponent has pocket sixes, which gives him the four-of-a-kind.

 

BAD BEAT #2…

When YOU have the best hand and your opponent has the WORST hand but your opponent GETS LUCKY and wins the pot.

For example, let’s say you have pocket Aces and go all-in.

Your opponent calls with pocket three’s.

The flop hits 2-4-5 and the turn card is a 6, giving your opponent the STRAIGHT and causing you to lose the hand.

Now that’s a bad beat.

And let’s face it, the SECOND type of bad beat– the one where your opponent gets totally LUCKY and outdraws you– is the kind of beat that just plain SUCKS. And pisses you off.

In fact, the second type of bad beat is the kind you REMEMBER the most too. When someone says, “Hey man, how did your card game go?”, the first thing that will come out of your mouth will be the story of that bad beat.

Am I right?

Now here’s what’s interesting…

MORE BAD BEATS HAPPEN IN ONLINE POKER THAN IN “REGULAR” LIVE POKER. 

Literally, you’ll see more bad beats happen in an online poker game than you’ll see at a local cash game or in a casino.

If you play both online and offline poker, I’m sure you agree with this statement.

So what’s going on here? Why would it be this way? 

There are two popular “theories”…

2. Online poker is rigged.
3. There are more hands per hour, therefore it’s an ILLUSION that there are more bad beats.

My opinion is that BOTH of these theories are WRONG.

Here’s why:

First off, I genuinely believe online poker is NOT rigged. I mean, c’mon… Do you REALLY think these multi-billion dollar casinos would need to RIG hands?

Most of them (at least the largest ones) use a professional RNG (Random Number Generator) programs, so the actual game cannot be manipulated in any way. Also- legislation authorities also inspect both RNG and the operator’s game code, to conclude if the gameplay cannot be manipulated, and only then they can obtain a gambling license.

Run Your Own Poker Site (RYOPS) has both RNG and Game logic certified by the highest authorities, offering the best experience for their clients.

So my hint for you regarding online poker is to check the validity of the RNG and Game Logic certification. The highest authorities regarding ther mentioned certification are “iTechLabs” (RNG certification) and “Gaming Labs International- GLI” (gaming logic and fraud prevention certification). Look for the logos like the ones below, but also check if clicking those logos lead you to an actual certificate for the operator you want to play at:

ItechLabs certificate:  

 

They make their money from tournament entry fees and rakes… and trust me, they’re making plenty.

OK, so what about the second theory?

Well, I do agree that there are more hands per hour in online poker than offline poker. There’s no disputing that.

But I don’t think that’s a good enough reason…

Because my belief is that there are MORE bad beats that happen per X number of hands ONLINE than for offline poker.

For instance, let’s say you played 100 hands. And let’s say you caught two really bad beats for every 100 hands at a casino. That’s 2%.

 

In online poker, you’re likely to catch FIVE or even TEN of those really bad beats per 100 hands. That’s 5-10%.

So the fact that you’re seeing MORE hands doesn’t explain the HIGHER PERCENTAGE of bad beats.

Still with me?

OK, so now let me give you MY “theory” about this.

It’s not really a theory. Just good old simple logic, actually.

Here it goes:

The reason there are more bad beats in ONLINE poker is because the very NATURE of online poker leads people to PLAY DIFFERENTLY.

The CARDS and ODDS are the same.

It’s the PLAYERS that aren’t the same.

What I mean is that for online poker, a LARGE portion of players adopt the style of LOOSE-AGGRESSIVE.

Translation? Manic.

They act irrationally… play hands they shouldn’t play… and bet way too aggressively for most given situations.

Why?

Because online poker isn’t as “real”.

The money isn’t as real. I mean, heck… the casinos give you so much “free” money when you sign up, how COULD it feel real?

The cards aren’t real. The chips aren’t real. The table isn’t real. NONE OF THAT STUFF EVEN EXISTS.

All you see when you play online poker are some silly little animations. And you hear some “clickity-click” sounds of fake chips.

That’s it.

Nothing else.

Period.

And if you LOSE a game, all you have to do is make three or four mouse clicks and you’re INSTANTLY playing another game. 

And hell, you can PLAY ten games at once if you want!

You can literally play poker against 100 players AT THE SAME TIME!

It’s a different world, my friend.

Now… let’s get back to the bad beats.

The FACT that players are LOOSE-AGGRESSIVE is what leads to the SITUATIONS where bad beats happen.

Here’s why:

1. Players bet their draws more or call large bets with draws or OK hands (i.e. bottom pair).

2. More players are involved in every pot.

3. The pots are bigger, since players are more aggressive.

When these conditions COMBINE TOGETHER, it creates an environment where there are a lot of BIG POTS and bad beats.

It’s not that the cards are “rigged”.

It’s that the betting patterns and playing styles are DIFFERENT than what you’re used to.

And when you combine that with the fact that you see more hands per hour, it inevitably leads to seeing a lot more “crazy” hands and bad beats than in regular poker.

OK, so now the obvious question becomes…

Is there any way to PREVENT bad beats?

The answer is yes and no.

Ultimately, bad beats will occur NO MATTER WHAT if you’re playing good poker. Because to win at poker, you’ve got to be willing to take RISKS.

And most risks have a minimum 20% chance or more of NOT working out in your favor.

With that being said, there ARE ways to prevent a LARGE PORTION of the bad beats you’ll see online.

Not only can you prevent them, but you can literally turn it around and make it YOUR ULTIMATE ADVANTAGE.

The key is to “tilt the tables” in your favor and USE the fact that players are so loose and aggressive to HELP YOU win more pots.

The way you achieve this is by adopting a SPECIAL playing style designed SPECIFICALLY for online poker…

My name for this “secret sauce” is this:

TIGHT-AGGRESSIVE SQUARED.

The concept of “tight-aggressive squared” is quite simple…

It starts with the logic that tight-aggressive is the most effective playing style to use in poker.

Tight-aggressive means TIGHT with hand selection, AGGRESSIVE with betting.

With online poker, there are more players in every hand. That means you must play EVEN TIGHTER with your hand selection.

You should ONLY play monster hands!

Period!

There’s absolutely no reason to get involved with “decent” hands because the odds are against you.

You’re bound to run into players who are CHASING or who just caught an extremely lucky flop.

When you DO get involved with a hand, you must be OVERLY aggressive. The pot size will be bigger, so you can’t lose many hands or else you’ll be out of the game in a hurry.

You must STRIKE… and you must STRIKE HARD.

You must risk ALL OF YOUR CHIPS– frequently– in order to win.

Of course, it’s much easier to risk all of your chips when you have a GREAT HAND than it is otherwise.

You see, the goal is to do two things:

1. Force out all but one, maybe two players for any pot you get involved with.
2. Have the odds so unbelievably stacked in your favor that you win far more HUGE pots than you lose.

And when you win lots of big pots, you become chip leader VERY QUICKLY. And that’s how you take control over a poker table.

The reason you want to force people OUT of the hand is simple mathematics.

Let’s say for instance you get pocket ACES.

Here’s what three of your opponents are holding:

Player 1: K-K

Player 2: 10-9 suited

Player 3: Q-10 offsuit

Now, if you went heads-up against any of these hands ONE-ON-ONE, your odds of winning would be about 80%. They’d be 85% against Player 3.

BUT…

If you went up against ALL THREE of these opponents in one single hand, your odds of winning is just 58.5%!

That’s just over 50/50 with the absolute BEST starting hand possible.

Get my point?

So when you GET pocket Aces, you need to FORCE OUT all but one caller.

You’ve got to be VERY AGGRESSIVE. 

In low stakes Sit and Go’s and ring games online, that quite often means going all-in.

Like I said, you’ve got to risk ALL your chips.

Now if you go all-in and one of those players makes a CALL, you’ll win four out of five times.

So if you get five big hands a game, you only lose ONCE. Of course, that one you lose USUALLY won’t wipe you out, because you’ll have more chips from the OTHER big hands…

Get my drift?

Literally, if I play low-stakes online Sit and Go’s, here is what my betting pattern looks like:

Fold

Fold

Fold

Fold

Fold

Fold

Limp-in

Fold

Limp-in

Fold

Fold

Fold

All-in

Fold

Fold

Fold

Fold

Fold

Fold

All-In

Fold

And so on…

I’m serious!

 

THIS IS HOW YOU WIN. It seems kind of “strange” to think about, but this is it!

Now… when you get down to just a few players in a game, it’s time to bust out the strategies, bluffs, trick plays, and so on.

BUT WHAT GETS YOU THERE is this TIGHT-AGGRESSIVE SQUARED style of play.

OK, so now the question becomes…

If all you did was ever FOLD or go ALL-IN, why would anyone ever CALL your bets?

What a great question.

And we’ve already gone over the answer…

It’s because online poker isn’t the same as offline poker. The people on there are DISTRACTED and often STUPID and VERY LOOSE.

That’s all there is to it.

AND THAT IS PRECISELY WHY ONLINE POKER IS SO MUCH EASIER TO MAKE MONEY AT… ONCE YOU LEARN THESE SECRETS.

Once you “crack the code”, it’s amazing how SIMPLE it is to win at online poker.

It’s actually SO SIMPLE and SO IRRATIONAL that I’m not sure it will always be this way. It seems that all those fish out there have GOT to go broke sooner or later.

But until that day comes, I’ll be making hay while the sun is shining…

And I recommend you do the same.

So, you’ve learned the basic style of play for online poker, which is “tight-aggressive squared”.

Use it, go win some pots, and let me know what you think.

When you’re done with that, make sure you you check out hot to use advanced odds calculator online. 

It will practically FORCE you to “play by the odds”, which means you’ll have yet another advantage over all the fish.

ODDS EXPLANATION & CALCULATORS

This article is packed with strategies and techniques… but if you want to have even MORE ADVANCED tactics you can use to win at Texas Holdem poker, whether it’s online or offline, make sure you check out our other BLOG articles.

Of course, even though a lot of the stuff you’ll read in my articles is “pro-level”, it’s written in an easy-to-understand and simple-to-follow way… just like this one.

When you read the strategies, you’ll be able to implement them INSTANTLY. 

And most important- after some time of impementing these advices, your own experiences will make you upgrade your skills to a unique style, becoming a pro poker player with ease…

 

Useful and interesting links:

Bad Beat explanation video (YouTube)

Bad Beat explanation article

 

Intro: “Flush” definition and basics explained

For start, let’s remind ourselves about the basics:

• flush (definition, click to open an external link from Wikipedia)
• possible poker hands combinations; you can check out the image below, or click it and get re-directed to a interesting blog article, which brought up all possible hand strength variations accross all poker game types:

 

Topic: Stop Getting Burned On Flush And Straight Draws

Have you ever lost a huge pot because you had a flush draw or straight draw and didn’t catch the card you needed?

It’s happened to all of us.

And frankly, it sucks.

Because when you’re on a draw, you’re just ONE CARD AWAY from raking in a ton of chips.

And you WANT to keep calling everyone else’s bets, in hopes that your card will pop out on the turn or river.

Am I right?

Of course, what ends up happening is you have to put a ton of your chips in the middle… just to call everyone else’s bets.

That makes you pot-committed… and if you DON’T catch your card, you’re screwed.

Now let me ask you…

Wouldn’t it be WONDERFUL if every time you were on a draw all the other players would CHECK around?

That way you didn’t have to risk any chips, and could bet only after you KNEW for sure whether or not you caught your card.

That sure would be nice, wouldn’t it?

AND…

What if there was a way to STILL WIN THE HAND… even if you DIDN’T catch your card?

That’d be nice too, huh?

Luckily, there IS a technique you can use to make BOTH of these things happen.

Let me show you how…

OK, so let’s say I’m at an 8-person no limit table and I’m sixth to act.

I’m dealt a 5-6 of diamonds.

Villain#1 comes out firing with a $10 pre-flop bet. Villain#2 and Villain#3 both call.

Now it’s on me.

I love suited connectors… especially busting my opponents with them unexpectedly, so I jump in and call.

The players behind me muck their cards right away… scared to death of so much action.

The flop hits:

4d-9s-7d

That means I’ve just flopped an open-ended straight flush draw. I couldn’t have asked for a better flop in this situation.

Unfortunately, Villain#1 comes out firing (again) with a no-hesitation bet of $20.

Villain#2 and Villain#3 both FOLD this time…

And the action is to me.

I’m putting Villain#1 on a high pocket pair, or maybe A9 or A7. And he’s figuring the scraps on the board didn’t help anyone, hence the strong bet.

Which puts me in a tough situation.

Think about it… If I CALL, I might miss my flush or straight on the turn card. Then what? Villain#1 will make another strong bet… what will I do then?

And if I call to see the river and miss, then I’ll have just given Villain#1 most of my chips and lost a major hand.

On the other hand, I don’t want to FOLD, because I have a ton of outs and I want to WIN this!

Now let me ask you, what would YOU do in this situation?

Most amateur card players don’t think ahead, and they’d call Villain#1‘s $20 bet. And if they missed on the turn, they’d call another bet to see the river.

And if they missed on the river, they’d probably fold, watch Villain#1 rake in all the chips, and wonder why they “never catch the right cards”.

Now a more skillful player would ANTICIPATE what’s about to happen… and would probably call to see the turn, but then fold if Villain#1 bets again.

And of course, there are always the tight players who would never have played the 5-6 of diamonds in the FIRST place.

So what do I do?

Remember, I’m sitting on 5-6 of diamonds. The board reads: 4d-9s-7d

And Villain#1, who made a strong pre-flop raise, just bet $20 after the flop.

Here’s the answer…

I RAISE!

Not some wimpy raise either… I raise him $40 more to play.

Most players would NEVER think to raise in this situation… but here’s what I’ve done:

1. I’ve TAKEN CONTROL of the hand and bought myself a FREE CARD when it matters most.

You see, if Villain#1 calls the $40 raise, when the turn hits he’ll CHECK to me.

(Remember what I said at the beginning of this post?)

That means I get to see the turn and river for a total of $40 more, which is a BARGAIN compared to what Villain#1’s next bet would have cost me.

2. I’m representing possible trips.

Villain#1 now has to wonder whether I called his pre-flop raise with a low pocket pair and just caught trips on the flop.

Or I could be sitting on a high pocket pair and I’m not “phased” by the flop.

3. I’ve raised the stakes of the hand in MY favor… not his. You see, if I just call Villain#1‘s bets and then hit a 8 of diamonds on the turn, what will happen?

Well, Villain#1 will SEE the three diamonds and the straight possibility, and he probably won’t make any more huge bets or call any huge bets from me.

This way, I’ve raised the stakes $40, which increases MY CHANCES at winning an even bigger pot than if I had just called.

Make sense?

And last but not least…

4. I’ve given myself a way to WIN even if I don’t catch the straight or flush.

 

Now I get to see Villain#1’s reaction to my $40 raise…

If I sense weakness, I may decide to BLUFF and buy this pot if I don’t catch my flush or straight.

If I only call Villain#1’s bets the whole way, he would’t fall for this type of bluff. But my raise of $40 will sure get him thinking.

OKAY, BACK TO THE HAND…

Villain#1 shuffles his chips around for a moment, and looks back down at his cards. It turns out he’s holding an A9… so he’s got top pair with the kicker. A good hand, but not a monster by any means.

He calls.

The next card comes out… Queen of spades.

No help.

Villain#1 checks.

THAT WAS IMPORTANT.

This is my “free card” opportunity that my $40 raise bought.

Now I’m in complete control… and feeling pretty good about this hand.

I can check and see the river for free. I’ve still got a lot of outs here.

Or I can bet STRONG and try to scare Villain#1 away.

“One hundred dollars”, I say, as I push a huge stack of red chips into the middle.

True, I only have a Queen high… and the beginner card player may think this type of play is crazy.

But then again, that’s why they’re called “BEGINNERS”.

Anyway…

Villain#1 thinks for a minute and then mucks it.

I rake in a beautiful pot.

Even if Villain#1 had called, I still had a good number of outs.

And if I missed, I could have tried to bluff again.

 

Now think back to when the flop came out…

After Villain#1 bet $20, what if I had called? (And not raised.)

Well, here’s what would have happened…

The Queen would have came and Villain#1 would’ve immediately fired a huge $80 bet. 

I would’ve had to either call the $80 to see the river, or muck my beautiful straight flush draw.

And THAT, my friend, is why it’s CRUCIAL that you TAKE CONTROL of the betting.

This type of technique allows you to truly DOMINATE THE TABLES and win more money playing poker. Period.

That’s what makes Texas Holdem such a fascinating game… there are just so many scenarios that can occur, and so many special “tricks” and “techniques” you can use to beat the competition.

Of course, you’ll probably never figure them all out on your own… and that’s why I’m here to help.

If you’re serious about taking your card playing skills to the next level, then it’s time you get started on the tables now and become a poker SHARK.

This proven, step-by-step “roadmap” will improve your game TREMENDOUSLY and help you achieve your goals… by TEACHING YOU WHILE YOU PLAY.

Because only by constantly learning new strategies, and reviewing your previous sessions played, it’s the only way you can constantly keep improving your game, and building your BANKROLL!

 

Good luck at the tables!!!