Understanding Variance in Poker
Bad beats are an inevitable part of poker. Every time you get your money in as a favorite, there's still a chance you'll lose. That's not bad luck - that's the game working as intended.
The key to handling bad beats is understanding that short-term results don't reflect your skill. A player who consistently gets money in as a 70% favorite will lose 30% of the time. Over 100 such situations, they'll lose around 30 times. The math doesn't care about your feelings - it just plays out. Focus on making good decisions and let the results take care of themselves.
The most famous bad beat in poker history? Quad aces losing to a royal flush — with real odds of ~1 in 165 million, not the 2.7 billion ESPN claimed.
