After months of playing recreationally on Full Tilt, I began to do some low stakes ($1-$2) MTTs.

All was going great, I was making it into the money over 30% of the time, and eventually had a bankroll of $90 (starting from $10).

Then, one day I became the bubble boy on two consecutive MTTs, then couldn't cash for the rest of the day.

Since then, I am not making any money, and have lost around 40 dollars, crushing my weeks of slow progress. After about 35 MTTs, my highest place has been 5th.

Is this common? I don't feel like I'm playing bad, I'm just not winning at all.

How do I stop this in its tracks?

Take a break. Move down in stakes.

mtts have high variance. Your goal is to rather win them more than cashing out. Thats why i stick to cash. Proper br management says only bi into mtts with 2% of you br. So move down win there come back when your gotten away of that why am I loosing feeling

....And my bankroll was just cut in half two minutes ago. Was trying to get lucky with some Rush Poker.

Was put all in pre-flop from a guy with K+A offsuited. I had pocket aces, so of course I called. He got a straight, and I lost 20 dollars.

I am now down to 20 dollars, and totally discouraged from ever playing any card game again.

I couldn't care less about the money I lost, it's the spiral of failure that I can't cope with.

I'm debating whether I should leave poker forever or just quit for an extended amount of time (while reading a couple poker books).

lol

Oh

First, you need to play with in your bankroll. Secondly, I have started keeping track of how many times my dominant hands have held, how many times they've lost, and how many times I've sucked out against dominant hands. It may seem stupid/noobish, but it just helps to reassure that variance goes both ways, and that if you're overall making good decisions, you will end up on top. The conspiracy theories otherwise start to enter your mind haha

Makes hands like this more bearable:

Poker Stars $1.00+$0.25+$0.15 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t75/t150 Blinds + t20 - 7 players - View hand 1190813
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): t9545 M = 26.15
BB: t4155 M = 11.38
UTG: t11030 M = 30.22
UTG+1: t20480 M = 56.11
MP: t5125 M = 14.04
CO: t7425 M = 20.34
BTN: t8825 M = 24.18

Pre Flop: (t365) Hero is SB with K K
4 folds, BTN raises to t8805 all in, Hero raises to t9525 all in, 1 fold

Flop: (t17900) 4 Q Q (2 players - 2 are all in)

Turn: (t17900) 2 (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: (t17900) J (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: t17900
Hero shows K K (two pair, Kings and Queens)
BTN shows 4 Q (a full house, Queens full of Fours)
BTN wins t17900


Happened as I type this lol

gl dude, ive played a mere 5.5k cash games hands this yr, and im running 11bis below ev and constantly gettibg rape, it sucks so hard that irl ur flat out and only get 1hr a week to play, and u cant book a winning session just 1 outtered then 2 outted all the time...chin up and play thro it

You need advice on overcoming a downward spiral? Don't play for half your remaining bankroll on a single hand.

Take a break as suggested above, all MTT, SNg players go on downswings they are sick.

I my self have gone on 100+ buyin downswings. its not fun, but the good thing about MTT's// SNG if you win one or two your back to even or ++

MTT variance is super high, you have to go into it expecting that and expecting giant downswings.

As a cash player, when I'm on a downswing (over multiple sessions) I make it my goal to simply break even each session. If I finish a session roughly where I was when I started, I consider that a successful session. That low expectation really helps me to keep playing well under bad variance and, of course, before too long (well.....sometimes too long ) the money comes back.

move up where they respect your raises.

Thank you for the insight/feedback/support.