I see a lot of bad beats whilst dealing. I see even more of them on the freeroll circuit, and every single one of them, regardless of being a digital ace on the virtual river, or even dishing out a miracle two-pair myself, it never fails to make me wince.
What makes me wince harder, though, is when a player goes on tilt because of it. Soon they whine and moan and play badly until they're felted and leave. Sometimes blaming me for it.
I never apologise, though. Bad beats and bad luck will always be a part of the game, this much is for certain. What is not certain, however, is their effect on your game.
Just think about this for a second. How many truly great players, that you've either played with or watched play a lengthy session, have you seen complain about bad beats or lack of cards?
I can't think of one. Can you? Maybe you can but I'd stake my royal title as the Prince of Freerolls that the bad players moaning about bad beats and lack of cards far outweigh the good ones.
Far, far outweigh them.
The reason for this is because good players first of all understand that luck is, unfortunately, an integral part of the game.
I know, I know. If they just took that out we'd all be raking in money from the fish, but they can't. Luck happens, and happens often. It happens to the best, and it definitely happens to the worse. The main thing though, is that it happens to everyone. It's inevitable.
There's not a single poker legend that hasn't had a horrendous bad beat steal valuable money from their wallets. Every single one of them of them has had a pot stolen with runner-runner-runner-runner-runner. They all became legends somehow, though.
Remember that scene in Fight Club where Brad Pitt gives Edward Norton a chemical? You can hear his skin start to sizzle off, and Norton's legs swipe around the floor as he tries to escape Pitt's grasp. Pitt, or Tyler, then looks into his eyes and says: ‘First you have to know, not fear, know that someday you're going to die.'
Cards are the same. Bad luck happens, but if you don't accept it and embrace as the unavoidable sideeffects that they are, then that chemical burn will keep hurting until it sears through your bones.
The other think about luck is that not only is it going to happen, there's also nothing you can do about it.
The cards are going to get dealt to you, and then they're going to be put on the board. Complaining and getting angry about things that you nor the dealer cannot control is not only pointless, but downright annoying.
Please, I beg of you, don't bug your dealer to deal you a good hand. It's not clever or funny or wanted. It might make you feel better, but I assure you that the dealer's already heard whatever funny little quip you've got to say. They've probably already heard it that day, too.
The next time you get rivered, or you spend an hour looking down at Seven-Deuce and Nine-Four, just remember that everyone will go through these lean spells at some point in their playing career. And that everyone will go through days where everything runs smoothly, too.
The next time your Kings run into Aces, don't blame your dealer or yourself. Just think about what to do, when the luck does go your way.
