Do you know when you are “running good?” Running good is a term we hear often in the poker world and almost everyone can relate to it in one form or another. However, very few players really understand the concept entirely.

On its surface running good means your hands are holding up and you are getting there on your draws in crucial situations. However, you can also be running good and lose hand after hand.

How is that possible?

It is possible because when you are running good, at its core, you are getting your chips in with the best hand. Once you have done that the rest is up to the deck and the variance within it. So, if you happen to get drawn out on several times in a row it does not mean you are running bad at all. It simply means that the math is catching up to itself. Again, the idea is to get your chips in good and control what you can control within the hand. Remember, you likely have never heard a guy curse the river when he hits his one outer on fifth street.

Conversely, when you are running bad the opposite tends to happen. You will get your chips in bad and somehow come out on top in the hand. You may even make a few final tables or cashes which make it appear that you are running good when that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Think about it. It makes perfectly good sense.