In its original American broadcast, "Bad Beat" was seen by an estimated 1.50 million household viewers and gained a 0.6/2 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research. This was 12% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 1.69 million viewers with a 0.6/2 in the 18-49 demographics. This means that 0.6 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 2 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it. With these ratings, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" was the third highest rated show on FOX for the night, behind "The Mick" and "Lethal Weapon", sixth on its timeslot and fifteenth for the night, behind "The Mick", "The Mayor", "Kevin (Probably) Saves the World", "The Flash", "Law & Order True Crime", "Fresh Off the Boat", "Lethal Weapon", "", "Black-ish", "Bull", "The Middle", "NCIS", "The Voice", and "This Is Us". "Bad Beat" received positive reviews from critics. LaToya Ferguson of "The A.V. Club" gave the episode a "B+" grade and wrote, "The follow-up episode to 'HalloVeen' was bound to face some added pressure, but 'Bad Beat' is luckily up for the task. It's not as mind-blowing or frantic as 'HalloVeen,' but it's another fulfilling episode in its own right. It's also another episode that fully utilizes every available cast member — even Dirk Blocker and Joel McKinnon Miller — as best as it possibly can, which is always a positive for "Brooklyn Nine-Nine". And "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" is a show that knows how to use its positives." Alan Sepinwall of "Uproxx" wrote, "'Bad Beat' put the show back in three-story mode, which isn't always its most effective (and something that's been less necessary during Gina's absence), but mostly worked here because the two subplots were intentionally slim. Rosa's silly wager with the two idiots about who could stay seated the longest worked as a nice contrast to the slightly more serious issue of gambling in the A-story, while also fitting Rosa's competitive spirit."