Player 1 has 7 ♠ 4 ♠ in late position and pushes all-in before the flop.If the turn is K ♦ and the river is K ♠, then Player 2 wins the pot and Player 1 can legitimately claim a bad beat!.The pot would be split if the two remaining cards are both jacks to make four-of-a-kind jacks with an ace-kicker. Player 2 can only win if the two remaining cards are either the two remaining kings to make a full house, or a queen and a ten to make a straight.Both players are all in on a flop of 7 ♣ J ♥ J ♠ Player 1 is 98% favourite. Some inexperienced players will wrongly recall a “bad beat” where their hand was only a marginal favourite. This is only the case when you have a hand that is a clear favorite, and gives your opponent very little chance of catching up. The person suffering the “bad beat” plays the hand correctly, gets their money into the pot when they were a long way ahead, but is still beaten by the turn of a card beyond the player’s control. Good players accept variance as part of poker, and work on reducing its influence on their own game.Ī “bad beat” is the name given to an occurrence in poker where a significantly worse hand beats a better one through fortune alone.

The short-term effect of luck in poker – both good and bad – is known as “variance”.

The key is to learn how to handle situations like this, and to make sure that your game is not adversely affected by factors outside of your control. The problem is that even if you play correctly, making all the right moves, you can still lose from bad luck. Making the correct decisions in every situation will lead to long-term success. You will have realised by now that poker is a game of skill.

Lucky bad player example in poker