Bad Beats In Poker - How To Deal With Them

A bad beat is one of the most frustrating things that can happen to a poker player. It can be defined as losing a hand to an opponent who held an inferior set of cards to you, but in reality, the term is generally reserved for when your opponent wins the hand despite being a big underdog statistically to do so.

The frustrating thing about bad beats, and the reason why all poker players of all levels hate them, is because they essentially level the playing field between the professional players and the amateur players, because at times luck can overcome skill.

Nevertheless it's a big factor in poker, and one of the reasons why poker is so universally popular, because in any given hand there's always a chance that a rank bad hand can win through against a strong hand, especially in the most popular form of the game, texas hold'em.

Most players will have tales about how unlucky they've been in various hands and at various times in tournaments, but it's the way players deal with these bad beats that will ultimately determine how successful they will be at the game.

Bad beats can really make a big dent in a player's bankroll, and can effect the way a player plays the game. For example, you will often see players go on tilt as a result of suffering a bad beat. They may also verbally abuse the player who inflicted the bad beat, and in some cases will go after that player and try to win their money back. All of these scenarios usually only lead to the player making further dents in their bankroll as a result of reckless play.

So you have to learn to be disciplined and control your emotions. Bad beats are a part of the game, and you just have to accept the fact that even if you are a strong favourite to win any given hand, you will still lose to the occasional bad beat.

The most important thing to remember is that if you develop a sound playing strategy and stick to this strategy throughout, then the occasional bad beat will not stop you from making good long term profits from poker. Don't make the mistake of criticising other players and chasing losses as this will only do more harm than good.

One other point worth mentioning is that if you find yourself going through a bad patch, suffering an abnormally large number of bad beats, remember that your poker play is generally sound because you're going into a lot of hands as the favourite. Therefore statistically you will win far more of these hands than you will lose in the long run.

Plus of course, there will be times when you have some good fortune yourself and inflict bad beats on other players, so they even themselves out in the long run.

Poker Guides - Secrets To Buying A Great Poker Guide

Have you heard the ads for that new poker guide? I am not going to name it here for the simple fact that the author will probably try and sue me out of anger, but I will say that nearly everyone that has bought that guide has wasted their money. Why? Because the information he has in his so-called "poker guide" is nothing more than a bunch of old, re-hashed, outdated information! You could honestly get all of his tips by just hanging out in a poker forum and reading the posts. So why do people buy it? Simple...they don't know the secrets to buying a great poker guide!

See, if you listen to these guys that are selling these poker guides you might get the impression that you can get rich by the end of the week and to be perfectly honest, you probably won't. I've been playing poker for ten years now and I can tell you that the money just does not happen overnight. Other than the select few that hit that lucky streak, it will take time to amass a fortune.

Don't get discouraged though! You can still make great money right off the bat and there are still some very great poker guides out there. You just have to know which ones are good and which ones are crap. How do you do that? Well let me show you how.

First - Look at the author. Is he real? So many authors claim to have the greatest poker guide, but they never let you know who they are or where they play.

• One poker guide I know of lists the author's nickname on every site he plays on...so you can log in and check out if he's real for yourself. It's always refreshing to see an author who's not afraid to stand by his product. That's a clear sign of a great poker guide!

• Another poker guide I know of tells you the author's name, but when I tried to find out more about him I hit a brick wall! It seems that he doesn't exist...or if he does, he doesn't want us to know anything about him. Kinda makes you wonder if he's hiding to keep away from the bad comments I've read about his poker guide. Lol!
  

Second - Look at the refund rate. Okay, this one may require a little explanation.

Most people who write or author digital products use a service to handle payments. Clickbank is one of these services. What Clickbank does is simple; they handle all the payments and refunds for the author, for a percentage of course. This means that I can write a poker guide tonight, put it on Clickbank, and they'll handle it from there. This automation of the purchase/refund process allows an author to concentrate on writing instead of selling.

How does this help you? Two ways:

• They have a rock-solid 8 week money-back guarantee, so you don't have to worry about getting scammed out of your money. Don't like your product? Ask for a refund! Clickbank is very, very adamant about good customer service, so they will do whatever it takes to make you happy.
  

• They offer a system that helps you determine how often a product is refunded. Want an example? The two poker guides I talked about above have refund rates of 0.28% and 15.12% respectively. That means the first product gets refunded about once every 400 sales, while the other product gets refunded about SIXTY times every 400 sales! Notice the difference? I bet you do!
  

Third - Look at the site.

• This is actually one of the least important things to consider, although everyone seems to put this under the microscope. These guys make their pages with one thing in mind...to sell you a poker guide. Take everything you read with a grain of salt and focus on the important things. Check out the author and check out the refund rate. If these two are good, then you can be 99.9% sure you have a good product!

Buying a great poker guide, or any kind of guide for that matter, isn't that hard...it just requires a little bit of knowledgeable research. Take the time to fully check out any poker guide and if you're using Clickbank, don't forget about their refund policy. If you would like more information on the products I was referring to just visit