Psyche of Bad Beats
 

Lately I have noticed that many players act completely different when they have become the latest victim of a bad beat. There is a person that I regularly play online with that acts in a very hostile manner when this happens to him. He will start complaining, whining, bad-mouthing, or even insulting the player (or players) for loose or improper play.

To me, this seems wrong for many reasons.

1. First, I would think that you would want to keep the bad players at the same table for as long as you can. They can't (and won't) keep getting lucky on the river.

2. Second, this action is happening at low-limit tables ($.25/.50 tables). One of the main complaints from this person is that these people shouldn't be playing those hands or at these limits if they don't want to play properly. My reaction to this is opposite... where else to you start to learn to play poker, the NL $300 entry tournaments? I know a lot of people who just like to have fun and can afford to play loose. I will admit, there are times I love to play loose also because it is just more fun that being patient. Of course, most of these sessions are losing endeavors.

3. Last, I guess something deep down inside my personality just thinks that treating anybody with that kind of abuse is just wrong. Maybe they don't know how to play "proper" as my friend says. Maybe they do, but don't care. The fact is that they have every right to be at that table.

Anyway, over the past few weeks, this has been waying on my quite a lot. I try to remain consistent in my attitudes/confidence level during good and bad times, but as everyone knows, that is not always easy.

I guess my question to everyone (is he almost done this long winded spiel)...
How do you react to bad beats? Do you let the person have it? Do you complain? Do you just move on? Does this motivate you to get even with that player?

This is a very common situation that has a very simple answer.

There is nothing gained by being rude or telling the fish they are fish. All that can be acomplished by insulting these people (who could very well be upstanding citizens in the real world - doctors, police, teachers, whatever) is scaring them away, which makes the table you are playing at stronger. And obviously that's not what we are trying to accomplish.

Yes, losing to a bad beat is frustrating, but the best thing to do is just shut up. If anything, say "nh" and be glad you have the opportunity to play poker with such a bad player.

If your friend doesn't like playing with beginner players, tell him to move up in stakes and play with the big boys. After a few sessions there, he'll be wishing he was still playing with the people who called him down with 4th pair, chasing their 5 outer.