Texas Hold'em Bad Beat Stories

Here you'll find bad beat stories of all kinds, ranging from the one-outer to just being unlucky when you had kings and someone else had aces. When you run into a bad beat, you have a urge of telling others about your misfortunes, so keep them stories coming in. Sometimes it can be the other way around like in the story about the guy who was bad beated but won the jackpot "Bad Beat And Won Jackpot" So please, send in your bad beat story to this email address: webmaster@learn-texas-holdem.com, be sure to write "Bad Beat Story" in the Subject, and I'll have it up in a couple of days.

By the way, if you would like to, I could put up your email address so that other readers can get in touch with you to further discuss the matter. But you have to explicitly tell me in the mail that you want me to put out your email and I don't take any responsibility whatsoever for any possible misuse of your email.

Texas Holdem Bad Beats

  • Sickest Hand I've Ever Seen
    In this hand I delivered the bad beat, but it was a crazy hand. I'm fairly new to poker and was playing a small $3 tourny on fulltilt. Read more...
  • Even if he had the flush I still had a few outs
    A couple weeks ago I am at the casino playing in a small cash game, no limit of course. I sat down at table with $80, blinds are 2 2. I played super tight poker and got a pretty good read on the game. With in a 1/2 hour I was up to 180 dollars. I am no pro but I play well just have the worse luck. Read more...
  • Loosing both pots against quads and a full house
    Just experienced a stinging bad beat:

    I was playing a 3$ tournament at Pokerstars and was doing pretty good. Had an above average chip stack after playing about 2 hours. All players started with 2000 and I was up to 10000. Read more...
  • Straight flush against straight flush
    Hi
    This is not actually a bad beat story but quite incredible anyway. Read more...
  • When he hit his set his chances decreased
    The worst one I can recall, took place on Absolute Poker. Ring game situation, I was playing heads up at the 5/10 NL tables. I am dealt K(h)K(s) in Sb and decide to limp my monster. Read more...
  • My Bad Beat
    I was playing a couple weeks ago at a local bar, just a sit and go game, like I normally play a couple times a week. Read more...
  • Worst Day Ever
    Yesterday was perhaps the worst day in term of people sucking out on me over and over in both ring games and tourneys... Read more...
  • Set over Set When Two Brothers Meet
    While necessarily bad play, but certainly bad luck. Read more...
  • Running Nines - aka. No Justice for Great Play
    I've taken some pretty bad beats before - runner-runner straights and flushes, two-and-three outers on the river - but this one really stung. It's a classic example of how you can play a hand perfectly and still lose. Read more...
  • Two bad beats from Down Under
    Game 1: Online
    I am chip leader, and i am dealt 7 H 8 H as BB, UTG raise 3 x blind and all others fold. I am a player who favours suited connectors so I call to see a flop knowing I can easily get out of the hand if not favourable. Read more...
  • Missing one hand
    So I'm playing 1/2 NL Holdem at the local casino for about an hour not really catching any hands. I leave my chips on the table and get up for 1 minute to make a phone call. Read more...
  • Table full of maniacs
    I was playing in a home sng, not the smallest stakes in the world. Table full of maniacs. I was on the buton with pocket 9s, i called a 4xBB raise with 2 callers. Read more...
  • Staring at the screen in disbelief
    This hand is almost not believable, even if you were to witness it happening. I literally had to sit and stare at the "last hand" window on FTP for a good couple minutes to realize what had just happened. Read more...
  • An Online Bad-Beat Epic
    This is the story of a man who just runs bad. It doesn't matter what stakes I play, who I play against, or how I play - I just take bad beat after bad beat. It'd be comical if it wasn't so tragic. Consider the following run that happened in a single evening at BoDog Poker (note: this sequence is only slightly worse than what I go through on a regular basis): Read more...
  • Two under cards with the same draw
    I'm playing in a free roll poker start tournament. Everyone starts with 1500 in chips. I lost to a common bad beat and now have about $700 left. Read more...
  • No one believes me when I tell them this hand
    I sent this bad beat in last year and it wasn't published. It has to be because it's not believable. Even experts don't believe this one. I want to repost this story again in that this really happened. It happened on Bo-Dog. No one believes me when I tell them this hand. It is that unrealistic. Read more...
  • You've never seen this!
    I have been reading up on bad beat stories on the internet and finally decided to post the one that still makes me giggle. It has been about 5 or 6 years since this occurred and is still fresh in my memory bank. Read more...
  • Always check the flop before betting your life
    I was playing a cash sit and go a few years back now. i was doing quite well, around £38,000 in front of me. this had been sponsored by an overdraft credit cards and a loan, £24,000 all together. so i had won £14,000 so far that day. Read more...
  • Nothing to do against a maniac
    I was playing in a cash game at a friend's house last weekend. To my left is Bob, the most loose aggressive maniac I think you'll find--he's a true gambler, who's put down hundreds of dollars on a blackjack hand on more than one occasion. Read more...
  • **NOT UR AVG BAD BEAT** THIS ONE STUNG
    THIS WAS THE FINAL TABLE OF A SATELLITE TO A 256 MTT SUNDAY TOURNEY ON FULL TILT, I WAS 2ND IN CHIPS AS YOU CAN SEE, WAS IN THE BIG BLIND...WHEN THIS HAND HAPPENED...I AM NOT MAD ABOUT THE CALL ON THE RIVER SO MUCH AS HIS CALL ON THE TURN...I THINK THIS GUY NEEDS HIS HEAD EXAMINED FOR THAT CALL ON THE TURN... Read more...
  • Beating a Donk at His Own Game
    It's late in the first hour of a BoDog freeroll, with the blinds at 30-60. I've caught a few good hands and been able to maximize their value, turning my initial stack of 1,000 into about 5,400. Read more...
  • Horrible Day at the Oaks Club

    Just finished a horrible day at the Oaks Club in Emeryville, Ca.. my home club...This particular bad beat happened yesterday, but today was just awful all around.

    Read more...
  • Not Really A Bad Beat
    I was playing at a poker table at FullTiltPoker.com, just a low risk game. Read more...
  • Runner-runner Straight Flush

    i'll keep it quick....

    short handed, 3 people left in a tourney. one guy was being VERY aggressive, TOO aggressive in fact. hes to my right. and raises. im getting short stacked after a couple bad beats...

    Read more...
  • Beaten by Fishy Pro at the WSOP
    I won the poker.com $12,500 WSOP package last year. On the first day I played (1D) Dario Minieri the scarf guy, or the kid that looks like Harry Potter was sitting to my right. Read more...
  • He Caught Running Quads

    I am in a 2/4 nl at the venetian. I got about 600 dollars in chips so does my opponent. I raised in the cutoff with my pocket duces.

    Read more...
  • A Tough Pill to Take

    Hello

    Prior to this story occurring, I had AK beaten preflop by K4, AA beaten by 6 4 and AQ beat by A9…. Not crazy beats but still bad ones none the less. I am not on tilt, crazier stuff has happened and I needed to focus on the game.

    Read more...
  • Three Nasty Beats in a Row
    I was playing a partypoker tournament, which was going okay for the first half hour. I bluffed a little and won a medium sized pot to nearly double my starting holdings. Read more...
  • QUADs VS QUADs - How deceiving
    It was a Friday nigh, approximately eleven O'Clock, when I decided to join a free roll on Crazy Poker. A little more than 11,000 players did the same. This is the type of free rolls where one half of the players get busted within the first 30 minutes, early all-ins to make up stacks etc. After all, with 1,000 chips at start the total chips in play is approximately 11,000,000. Read more...
  • Oh woe is me, sick beat followed by a sick beat
    I have late position with the hand AQ.....blinds are at 300-600, i have around 8000 in chips (fairly decent chip stack). 3 limpers in front. I raise to 1400. Under the gun calls my bet, then a fold, then seat next to folder makes a re raise all in it was another 1900 to call. I then go all in over the top to isolate the hand, I made it 5500 over the top to go, and then player under the gun folds. Read more...
  • Loosing to garbage
    Playing $1/$2 on Betfair, a guy who had been playing awful (lost about $300) calls my raise pre-flop of $7, along with 2 other players. Read more...
  • Bad beats, bad luck
    i've been playing texas holdem for about two years now, and losing pretty much constantly ..... at first this was, no doubt, because i was a bad player, but it now seems to me that i am getting constantly and soundly beaten by worse players than me. i consider myself to be quite a solid player. Read more...
  • Losing to 2-7 off-suit

    Just about an hour ago I had a 10 Jack suited pocket.

    Read more...
  • Queen Trips Loses to River Straight

    Hi there,

    Was playing great poker in a tournament down to last 5 players.

    Read more...
  • Double bad beat in tourney
    Last summer, I had increased my online bankroll from $20 to over $1100 playing $20 sit-n-go tournaments over a few weeks time. I couldn't loose. Read more...
  • Greatest Hand Ever
    OK, I recently dished out the worst beat I have ever witnessed. I was playing online at a 50c/$1.00 NL Hold'em table. Read more...
  • Flopped nuts loosing to runner-runner

    Question:

    This hand happend to me in a 2/4 Cashgame a couple of days ago.

    Read more...
  • No one noticed his straight flush
    5 handed in a c50-$1 cash game. It's the end of the night, a couple hundred dollars on the table. I get Ah Jh on the button and make it 2 to go. Three of the four players call me. Read more...
  • Quads crushed
    Not a bad beat for me just a bad beat for my friend. I will tell it from my friend's point of view. Read more...
  • The game of idiots
    Playing in local cash game $30 buy-in get you 10k in chips $35 re-buy can get another 10k when you go bust. Blinds start at $100/$200 and double every 15 min. Starts at 27 total (3 tables) and pays 60%, 30% & 10%. Not a huge game, but the winner can usually walk out with between $5-600. Read more...
  • Two nasty beats at Ladbrokes
    Bad beat number 1: Hole cards KK . Flop K77 (bet large), 2 callers. turn 7. Bet huge - 2 callers. River 7!!!! 2 callers win with quad 7s and an ace. Read more...
  • AAA twice in one night
    Poker tournament at friends house last week. Twice had AA to see the flop come in with a third A. Read more...
  • Losing to a meglomaniac fish
    I just suffered the worst two in a row bad beats of my life. Read more...
  • Terrible luck at family reunion
    Since it's a nose dive that I technically could have saved myself from, I'm not sure if it's considered a bad beat. It was terrible luck though. Read more...
  • Nasty Beat
    Question:

    Live No Limit cash game. I am on the button with A3s. 4 players call BB and I limp in. Flop comes 2d,4c,5h. I check, UG bets $25 the other 3 call and I raise to $50 and 3 of the 4 players fold and one guy in mp calls. The turn comes Jc. MP checks to me and I raise all in $300 and Mp calls and turns over a 2-6 off suit. Yep you guessed it……the river is a 3. Where on earth do these people come from.

    Read more...
  • Flopped Flush Loses to Runner Runner

    I was playing in an online NL multi table tournament ($3 buy-in 1800 people). It was early on, 15/30 blinds and I was just to the right of the button. Five people had limped in before me and I had A spades 6 spades. I decided to play in hopes of hitting big on the flop. The button and small blind folded and the big blinded raised it up to 60.

    Read more...
  • This guy had like .50 PCT odds and kicked my ass
    In a "Casino Night" at a local fire house I sat down at a 100+50 no limit game with about 145 people. Top 12 places pay out and after a quick drink to calm the nerves and a look around I start sizing up the competition immediately. Read more...
  • A set of bad beats and turnarounds

    Got a triple-header for the readers here.

    Bad Beat #1: I'm at a local NL tourney ($50 buy-in, max payout of $500, charity event), I'm about halfway through the field of about 130 people, and doing rather well. After starting out with $1600 in chips, I was up to around $7500. I was in middle position, dealt 5h 7c and raised to 3x big blind, got one caller, a woman who was playing tight/aggressive for most of the time I was at the table with her. Flop comes 6s 8s 9s, giving me the 9-high straight. Figuring my opponent was four-flushed, I bet out 10x big blind, she takes a while, and calls it. Turn is 7d, so she may have a straight like I did, so I try to represent the flush and push all in, she IMMEDIATELY calls it and shows her 2d 5s, giving me the best hand with the 9-high straight, but she is four-flushed and can draw the 7s to make the straight flush... well, given that this is a bad beat story, she does, and immediately thanks me for the rest of my chips. The worst part of this story is that my opponent was my sister... I didn't hear the end of it till I gave her a taste of her own medicine recently by flopping the same straight flush, hehe.

    Note: You had the same nine high straight on turn

    Read more...
  • Set of queens is no match

    I was playing my usual stakes NL game today when this hand came up. For my bankroll the stakes are pretty high and if I do lose a big hand I sometimes have trouble dealing with the variance.

    Read more...
  • Strange Luck when Playing Internet Poker
    Howdy, i've had some strange luck playing internet poker recently and i thought you might be interested as i'm probably one of the only people to win less than $1 with two separate royal flushes in no limit hold em. Read more...
  • Flopped Boat Sunk Hard on the River
    Playing in a no limit holdem tournament, late in the game I was somewhat small stacked and needing some good cards to make a move as all my bluffs were getting called. I was dealt cowboys, pocket kings, and knew this was my hand to win as I was in decent position. Nobody had raised pre-flop by the time it got around to me so I raised enough to push out the people chasing low cards. Two people called, both in worse position, so things were looking good. Read more...
  • Beaten Blind
    I was in a friendly high stakes game with some friends of mine....I was low on chips, and being a little loose from some beers, decided to go all-in blind. My friends congratulated me for my bravery, and one person, I'll call him "Levi" called. Read more...
  • Quad Ducks Goes Down
    Got into a pot cheap in late position with 22 with 4 others, no raisers. This was playing 2/4, by the way. Flop was 2-5-5. Figured it was time to slow play! It goes Check, Bet, Fold, Fold and I raise. The bettor raises, so I reraise and he caps it. Next card is a Q. He leads out, I raise, he raises and again we cap it. At this point I'm slightly nervous, but figured him for an A5 or an overpair at best. The river is another 2, giving me quads, and calming any fears I had (except one, which I'm sure you've figured out by now). He bets, I raise, he raises again and of course I call. He shows the 55 and for the first time ever, I see quads lose to quads. I wish I was at Party Poker, wouldn't that have made me eligible for the bad beat jackpot?? Read more...
  • Straight Flush Kills My Hand
    My story is not really one of a bad beat, but it is as unlikely as they come.

    I was playing a 7 people NL home tourney, best two places pays, and we were down to three. I´m low on chips, real low. Blinds are 200-400 and I´m big with just 500 after I pay. Button folds, small blind calls. I look down at KK. Needless to say, I go all in for the remaining 500. Small blind calls and reveals K8 offsuit. As good as it gets, I think as I show my cowboys.

    Read more...
  • Boat Loses To Running Tres
    First of all I love you site its been really helpful. I wanted share a bad beat story which happened the other day while I was playing online. I was at this $50 NL table and one guy was an absolute calling station, but worse he was just destorying everyone. He kept getting lucky time and again. I noticed that every other player in the table was just waiting for the right hand to play against him. Everytime someone would pick up a strong hand he would crack them by getting 2 pair with J4 or something. Read more...
  • Ace On The River
    At a $1-$2 no limit game at a local spot...

    I was the small blind and the dealer dealt the cards. I peeked at my hand, JJ... Not my favorite hand, but i decided it's worth a shot...

    Read more...
  • Running Aces Sinks My Boat
    I was in a tournament recently and doing pretty well. I was in middle position when I was dealt pocket Kings and raised and had one caller.

    The flop comes down A K 8 (rainbow).

    Read more...
  • 77 Beats My Boat
    I had an Ace 6, in the small blinds, i was playing a low limit game, everyone was in the pot, it was actually a sit-and go tournament but a small one. Read more...
  • Setup After Setups
    Hello, here are some of my bad beat stories that you can post up on your site.

    ________________________

    #1:

    Title: What an a$$ hole !!

    Read more...
  • KK Loses To 22
    This was crushing. It was in a 10$ buy-in hold 'em tournament. Winner take all except one buy-in to second. 7 players. Buy-ins had it up to 90 for the winner and 10 for second place. Read more...
  • Back To Back Beats
    I was playing in a game with a bunch of coworkers when I was dealt A-J offsuit in the small blind. It had been a fairly wild game, so I limped in just to see the flop (that was likely my biggest mistake, you tell me). Read more...
  • Two Unlucky Hands
    I was last to call before the button and was dealt TT. Dealer raised $1000 after all blinds ($300/$600) were in and myself and one other player called. Flop comes Q 7 7. Read more...
  • Running Sevens To Win
    I don't know if this qualifies as the worst beat ever, but it's got to be pretty close. This beat is the reason I will no longer play online poker because I'm thinking a beat like this could only happen online. Read more...
  • KQ Busted My AK
    I was playing in a no limit texas holdem tounament yesterday. I do not know if this was a bad beat or just my stupid decision.

    I was dealt Ace King, 8 players at the table and 1 guy raises 2000. At this point I am getting low stacked because the ante was way up and I was getting some bad cards for a long time. I figured this was my time to make my move.

    Read more...
  • Losing Quad Threes
    I haven't posted any of my own bad beats on this site yet. I've played so long now, I've literally seen everything. Not much surprises me. Read more...
  • The Bad Beat Spin
    The Bad Beat Spin

    I played side games at the Rio in June this year during the WSOP. The games were quite good. My first night there I got into a $10-20 Hold'em game. I won only one pot in the first 4 hours. Still, it was a sizeable pot and I managed to find myself even and feeling good about winning for the night if I could just get a few hands to hold up.

    Read more...
  • Nut Straight Nightmare
    Nut straight on Flop... Loser!!

    This is a recount of what happened a few weeks ago during a reoccurring, $40 buy-in, NL hold'em home game that I had the unfortunate pleasure of hosting.

    Read more...
  • 96,1% to win and lose
    This happened to me today, it was a small online tournament with 100+ people in. I made it to the final table and was in good chip position with 5 people left. Read more...
  • Never Playing KK Again
    Not sure if this is a bad beat or not, but kind of a crazy situation. I'm playing online and watching the 05 WSOP. Cloutier is up against some no-name for the braclet in one of the circuit events, and in one particular hand, flops a straight against the other players 6s. Read more...
  • Losing Set To Backdoor Straight Flush
    I learned a lot from your site so I thank you for all your advice. Read more...
  • Top Set Loses To 72
    I sent you guys a couple bad beat stories yesterday, but this one takes #1, and the first serious crushing blow I've suffered since I started playing poker in Jan of 2004. Read more...
  • Losing To A One Outer
    Just as I was thinking it had been awhile since I took a brutal beat, it happened last night - I'm playing $10 NL and have King, 5 of diamonds in the big blind. Read more...
  • AA Losing AK
    AA losing to AK

    I'm in an online tourny and I'm at the final table of 9. I'm number 3 in chips. I have been sitting out about 12 hands because I couldn't catch any decent pocket cards and a couple of guys at the table are maniacs that call everything. I've watched these morons chase down to the river and catch. I'm playing very tight and trying to let the maniacs take each other out while maintaining my chip position.

    Read more...
  • Why He Quit Playing
    Title: Why I quit online Poker for life as it may be rigged!

    This is not to defame any sports books in particular but I honnestly think SportsBooks and other Poker sites have holes that have the ability to un-randomize cards and actually control the cards to soak their players for more than just the Buy-Ins. I have played Limit, No Limit and tournaments (Multi and Heads up). Here are the reasons why I think online Poker is rigged:

    Read more...
  • KK Three Times In A Row

    Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

    Caveats: NONE

    KK verses AA three times in a row!

    Read more...
  • Poker Stars pokerstars.com
    I am not going to play at pokerstars.com limit ring games anymore. I've given their site a fair shot now and they have proven to me that something is a miss with their system. If you don't believe what I have to say that is fine, you can try it out yourself but I felt it my duty to speak up in case new players got a bad idea of what real poker is like by playing there. I understand that many people will dismiss what I have to say regardless of how much I write about what happened so I'm going to keep this short; and yes I also am well aware of the swings poker can have. If you don't play middle and upper limit poker then the first point is that most pots you are in are heads up or three way. Because of this the best hand has a huge advantage and usually holds up (this is just math and the only way there is a strategy for beating poker). The first day I played $30/60 at pokerstars.com I had JJ three times and flopped a Jack three times -- I had full houses twice and quads once. That day I also had AA three times, every one of them I flopped a set and it held up. I mention this because that day also was odd (a "good odd"). Besides that day though, every other day has been really strange where you are up against one opponent who has a weaker hand and they catch you so many times that it makes it impossible to come out on top. Here are a few examples (multiply this by 100 and it gets a little old and suspicious): Read more...
  • Bad Beat Or Bad Play
    Question: I have been playing holdem online for about 3 months now, and I have read plenty of literature. I would say that about 90% of my time has been spent in mult table no limit tournaments. Read more...
  • Trip Jacks Losing To QQ On River
    Question: Hi, I just found your site today and its been very helpful. Last night I was playing online limit holdem for $.50/1 and I get AJoff in the hole and I was in last position. Two people call the big blind and I believe I did too, then the flop comes TJJ and everybody checks to me and I bet, everybody called, the turn was a T so I have the best full house, and again everybody checked to me and I bet, at this point I believe two people folded and there are 3 of us left. The river brings a Q which worries me because a JQ can take me, and somebody of course bets before me and we reraise till the limit. The guy had pocket Queens, now I was devastated, I don't understand why he would have stayed in all the way to the river since I had bet on the flop and the turn, with TJJT on the table. Should I adjust anything in my game or is that just lucky/bad play by the other person. Thanks. Read more...
  • Losing Quad Aces
    Question: This was the worst beat I ever had. I'm playing in a no limit game. I get pocket aces so I raise pre flop. Another player re-raises me and a third goes all-in. I go all-in next and the third guy goes all in. The flop comes: Ah, Jh, 9s. So now I'm feeling real good right? I got the nuts trip aces. Next comes the turn: Js. Ok, this is great right I figure I just won a huge pot with three of us all-in. I have a full house Aces over Jacks. Can't beat that right? Wrong. The river is a 10h. Ok so I have the full house. Wanna guess what the other two have?? Pocket jacks and KQh. That's right dude. I got beat by both four of a kind and a Royal Straight Flush all in the same hand!!! Any idea what the odds of that happening is? I've lost a lot of all-ins, but I don't thing anything will ever beat that one. Just figured I'd share that one with everyone. The good new is it was only a .25/.50 game with a max buy-in of $50. I lost about $45. Read more...
  • Royal Flush In NL Cash Game
    A friend of mine told me this story which is hard for me to fathom. A buddy of his plays in some high stakes no limit cash games. Read more...