Submitted by rsteel on
Every so often I like to revisit the topic of bad beats to refresh your memory and also for you to understand in order to win consistently you have to understand how to lose. I did not say be happy with losing but how to deal with it and move forward so you can profit.
We all get them. They are part of the tax we pay in this business for turning a profit. Let me be clear about this topic. Despite what you may have heard or believe bad beats DO NOT even out. Yes you will win some games you do not deserve to win however the bad beats will outnumber those so called lucky wins.
You should expect to win every game you bet otherwise obviously why bet it. However when you win as a skilled experienced handicapper most of the time you will and should cash because of solid handicapping. When you lose yes sometimes it will be you misread a game (although it should not happen often) and you have a dead ticket and usually you can tell early on. However most of the time you lose it will be a turnover, a bad referee call, a coaching decision, or a last second miracle going against you. Accept it move on. It happens to all of us. If you have trouble dealing with bad beats it WILL affect your future handicapping.
Also be careful what you categorize as a bad beat. When you have a close loss does not automatically mean you just had a bad beat. Post mortems of your bets winning and losing are extremely important or you are doomed to make the same mistakes again. Ask yourself why was the game so close to begin with? Was your handicapping off? This exercise is much more productive than moaning about this so called bad beat. It might simply be you were on the wrong side and you were lucky to be that close down the stretch to begin with.