I've only hit that magic number a few times in my many days of play $25 NL. Since I've learned to multi-table those games, I've had several $50 nights and even a few $75 nights, but it's still rare when I rake $100 in profit for the evening.
I had top set and not one, not two but three players pushed all in. There was no straight or flush to the board, so I knew I had the nuts, and I called off my $25, licking my chops at the pot that was surely going to slide my way. Except a guy called me with K-3 and a backdoor flush draw. And hit runner, runner flush.
My face turned red, my jaw locked up and my nails dug into my palms. Then I looked down at my two twin girls, not even a week old, snug in their bassinette. When you're the parent of newborns, you simply can't tilt anymore. You really shouldn't tilt when you're a parent, period, unless you want to spend some of your winnings on therapy or have your kid wind up like Tony Soprano whining about his parents in between whackings.
Still, it's always better to take care of that anger, rather than let it fester and chop away your bankroll, when suddenly top pair looks drizzled in gold and you're going to win the next pot, by God, even when the guy raises you all in.
Again, I play mostly $25 NL cash games on Ultimate Bet and Poker Stars , and I play MTTs and SnGs on Full Tilt :
So here's 10 ways to avoid getting fried when a fish eats your chips:
• Quit your game and play .01/.02-cent limit - Nothing is more satisfying after taking a bad beat than handing one out yourself. Play every hand and chase everything. It shouldn't cost you but a couple bucks to do it, and when you hit, brag in the chat box about how you "felt" your miracle card coming and that you are genius at poker. You'll forget about your beat in no time.
• Remind yourself you're doing your part in supporting the poker economy - Fish have to eat so the sharks like yourself can get fat. You've just fed some fish and kept them coming back for more. In today's poker world, when more and more fish can't reload their bank rolls because of our short-sighted government, that's important.
• Take notes on the person - Did this person call two pot-sized bets to chase his flush? Did she push with top pair? Take notes on the mistake and you'll eventually get your chips back when he or she makes it again. And they will. After all, they've just been rewarded for it.
Then think of your chips as an investment to greater winnings.
• Play a bit more aggressively - It's possible that others will think you are tilting after your bad beat. Take advantage of their misguided thinking when you have a big hand.
• Play a simple video game where the only objective is to kill something - Google "Flash Element Tower Defense" and pretend the creatures you're supposed to destroy
are the fish who just took your stack with runner, runner full house.
• Keep a pillow by your side. Punch pillow. Repeat.
• Write about the beat in your blog - Make sure you include the hand history. Readers love those.
OK, actually, no one wants to hear bad beat stories, right? Actually, that's not entirely true. Some like to hear them because misery loves company and it's nice to know that you're not the only one suffering from such atrocities. It does help to let it out. But bad beat stories are also lame. So apologize for it.
• Examine your play - While you're writing about how the poker world hates you and you don't deserve this and blah, blah, blah, take a look at each street and figure out how you could have played the hand better.
Most bad beats aren't as bad as you think they are. Many times you should have bet more or even raised to protect your hand and let your opponent draw out on you cheaply. Other times you played a large pot with a small hand like top pair. And sometimes you'll pay the guy off, making the bad beat worse, when it's obvious the guy hit his straight and you can't let go of your aces.
There's almost always another way to play a hand after you take a rough beat. You just paid some money for the lesson. Learn it well.
• Watch TV poker - If you think bad beats happen only online, you're wrong. I just
got through watching an episode of the World Poker Tour, and it happens live too.
All the time. It's refreshing.
• Take a walk - I was staring at my girls and pondering what I could throw. So I logged off and went outside to my big backyard and cursed a bit and tossed a plastic chair a few feet.
You shouldn't tilt because you don't want to disturb your kids. But your neighbors are another story.