Have you been cursing at your computer because you've been really bad lucky? Does it seem like your bad luck just doesn't go away? Well, let me ask you an important question: Have you ever wondered if you were responsible for those losses? Because guess what, you probably have a hand to play in it. No pun intended!

Sometimes we are faced with the dreaded bad beats. It's only normal that these situations will come up on occasions, but are they occurring too frequently in your game? Are you loosing your money because of it? Well guess what: It's not all about bad luck. You are likely doing something wrong and I'd like to suggest a poker strategy to bring your game back on track.

Number of Poker Opponents

The secret in winning at Texas Hold'em is in making sure you are facing as few opponents as possible. Most people think that the more players you have in the hand, the more money you can win. While this is true, you also need to understand that when you have a lot of players in the hand, it's harder for you to win the hand. You're better off winning a little less more often, than winning a little more less frequently. Why? Because the sooner you acquire chips, the quicker you can put them to work.

Choose the Right Poker Game

When playing on the internet, either in freerolls, play money, or low stake games, you'll play with bad poker players who call when they shouldn't, raise when they shouldn't, chase cards when they shouldn't, and refuse to fold when they should in fact fold. This affects you directly. It means that players are sticking around in the hand when they shouldn't. It means more opponents for you, thus fewer chances to win and this translates into more bad beats. They are playing in this manner for a few reasons. In freerolls, they have nothing to loose so they'll try to double up and get lucky. They'll make the most ridiculous plays and the most idiotic calls, and worse of all, they'll beat you regularly. I'm avoiding freerolls for that very reasons. When the game turns into a luck fest, where is the fun in that? There is no challenge, there is no poker strategy and you don't need skills. That's not poker. You may as well be playing bingo! Sometimes however, the bad plays are occurring because of the lack of knowledge and experience. People sometimes try to make the right plays and want to in, but they make the wrong moves regardless. All of this affects the outcome of your hand.

Your Online Poker Strategy

Let's talk about a poker strategy to overcome these players. I've noted that the freeroll luck fest usually takes place early on in the game. After a while, it dies down and people actually start playing poker. It means that very early in the tournament, some players will have a huge stack while the majority will still be near their starting chip counts. It's certainly a disadvantage for some. But think of it as a challenge to overcome, as part of the tournament. Super aggressive players with big stacks bluff a lot. If you are patient, you can use their tactics against them and double up when you have good cards. Patience is key. Be tight early on, especially in the initial few hands (when sometimes half the table goes all in).

Next, pick the hands you'll play carefully because you'll want to push people out of the hand pre-flop. That means you'll need to be very aggressive in your bets, but at least you have a tight player image backing you. Don't bluff just yet unless that is your only hope of success. If you get caught bluffing early on after having been patient and building a table image, that image will loose its value quickly. As the tournament progresses, the good players generally stick around after having eliminated the not so good players who were causing you headaches. Now, take the time to examine the mood of your and start changing your play style to be a little more aggressive. You survived the initial luck fest, but you have a long way to go. Put pressure on small stacks and get those chips!

Ultimately, to get away from those bad beats, you'll need to back away from some hands by playing tight, and when you do pick a hand you want to play in, you'll need to come out strong in an effort to push as many people away as possible. When faced with all in situations, you always want to try and be all in against a single opponent unless you have an unbeatable hand, which is generally not the case. This won't avoid all bad beats, but it will surely reduce their frequency. Good luck!