Over the last several years, the FlopTurnRiver Hand Converter has proved to be a valuable tool. With hundreds of thousands of hands run through its system, it’s allowed players of all types to get a statistical perspective on their methods of play. But it’s also, to be honest, produced some curious numbers.

According to our data, players who converted their pocket aces won only about 35.9 percent of the time. This covers 35,083 conversions, a figure followed closely by the 32,875 conversions turned in for pocket kings. Over that span, Cowboys, produced a victory in just 32.2 percent of their contests. It is interesting to note that pocket 9′s accounted for the highest win percentage (36.6%), though the hand has only been converted some 12,854 times. Here’s a full list of the numbers:

So, what could possibly cause such a strange set of figures? The simple answer, one would suppose, is that players most often turn to a hand converter when they’ve just suffered a bad beat.

Ah, yes. The inevitable bane of the serious poker player’s existence. Everyone has a story, and no one enjoys hearing them. Ahead with aces and busted on a one-outer – nothing stings quite as badly. These can be especially painful if such a turn knocks a player out of a profitable tournament or ring game.

But bad beats have been around for as long as poker has been in existence. They’re a necessary part of the playing experience, and one that we all have to learn to live with. Sometimes, it’s important to note, that what we consider a bad beat really isn’t as horrific as we believe it to be. Were you playing out of position? Did you ignore the gambling tendencies of your particular opponent? Did you decide to shoot it out when you could have lived to fight another day? There are all sorts factors which, once examined, can reveal that the supposedly bad beat was really just a tactical misstep on the part of the player.

Let’s face it – checking the stats to see just how unbelievably you were just beaten is a bad way to move on. Because, in all honesty, poker wouldn’t be a very interesting (or profitable) game if the statistics played to the best hand every single time. Amateurs wouldn’t be willing to drop their cash onto the table if they knew, for certain, that they’d be beaten every single time.