By TylerDurden on August 16th, 2007 (more posts by author)

So you're playing, and it doesn't matter what you get. KQ suited with 2 pair flopped, and someone draws to the river to make a straight. Flop a set, lose to a turned higher set.

Everyone who's played poker for any reasonable length of time has seen it. You've been hit with a cold deck. What to do?

Well, first of all, don't bitch and moan to your neighbor. All it does is kill your table image -- you begin to look like a loser, and your opponents will adjust accordingly. You'll get tons of calling action... but that means that you'll have to beat 4 or 5 other hands, instead of only 1 or 2. (as an aside, whenever my neighbor wants to tell me a bad-beat story, I tell them that it's a $1 listening fee for them to tell me. Quite honestly, half the time, they toss me a white chip and begin the story. Hey, it pays for cocktail tips....)

So, step one to beating a cold deck: Shut up. No whining. There's no crying in baseball, and there's no whining in winning poker.

Step two: Tighten up. Most players (myself included) play too many hands. Think raise or fold, preflop, unless there's a ton of players already in -- that might allow you to play your J[h] T[h], but remember that you've got a [i]drawing[/i] hand, you need to hit either a straight or flush draw, or at least 2 pair, to make it past the flop.

Step three: Value-bet more. If your table image is shot since you've shown a string of losers, you're going to get more calls. Start betting your hand more -- don't get tricky, just play straightforward aggressive poker.

Step four: Begin taking a long-term view. It's hard, believe me, for most players to see beyond the current session, but remember that your poker career is just one long game. What matters is not how you do this hand, this hour, this session, but that you make the correct decisions. You'll always be right to fold 7[c] 2[d] under the gun, even though the flop [i]could[/i] come out 7[s] 7[d] 2[h]. Folding saves you money, long-term, and money saved spends the same as money won. Short-term, any two can win, but long-term, the best two will win out more, so do [i]not[/i] get frustrated and play crap to win a pot.

Here's hoping your cold deck periods are as short as possible!