I've always played tournament poker, and I started playing 13 and a half years ago in college. I picked up Texas hold 'em and its variants quickly from a college friend, but I play almost exclusively NLHE.

Anyway, I recently played a series of well-known tournaments and cashed the first four I played, but I've bad beated out of the last three. I bad beated out of the main event in the series with roughly 300/~1500 players left due to a 3-outer on the river after both my opponent and I had gone all-in pre-flop (he was dominated pre but had me covered), but I was short-stacked, so I would have needed to do a lot of work to make the money.

The worst one I took was yesterday in the third flight of another major tournament with $50k up top for the winner. I had one of the larger chip stacks in the room, and we were playing down to the final 30 or so players in the flight. I was dealt AA on the button, the UTG player (who also had a large stack and only about 9k fewer chips than I did) raised to 2k with blinds at 500/1k/1k, everybody folded until the CO called, I re-raised to 6k, the SB and BB folded, and the UTG player re-raised all-in without much thought. The CO folded, and I snapped, he turned over AKo.

Flop Q - 10 - 7, Turn J, River... I think it was a 3, can't really remember because I was visibly shaken and crushed. That hand crippled my stack and left me with a handful of BBs in what was essentially a turbo, and I busted a few hands later getting AJs in pre-flop against 88.

Maybe it's because I've played so many tournaments recently and am physically and mentally exhausted, but after going through these things online for so long and seeing that these things translate to the real world and outplaying your opponents isn't always rewarded, I'm seriously thinking about giving up and only playing maybe World Series events. Anybody have any similar experiences? Have you ever suffered a series of bad beats and just felt like quitting for good or limiting how often you play? I'm sure cash game players probably feel this way more than tourney players since it's probably rare to consistently bad beat out of tourneys.

I would think that playing tournaments is much more mentally taxing. The variance is so high compared to cash games and it really sucks to get into a bad beat after playing an 8 hour tournament and end up in small money positions. In cash games you can easily control your time and leave the games when you feel like it.


PS. Feel you bro just Switch games to cash games

I've thought about quitting so many times as a cash game player. As a cash game player, I feel like it's easier to see the edge that you have on your opponents. In tourneys, it's just so much harder to realize your edge and you don't always win as much. I commend you for being a tournament player, they require so much mental strength.

not that it would make much diff but your 3b is way too small. you want to be raising 3x + callers so at least 8k in this situation and 4x + limpers oop.

also, yes i have got to the stage where i want to quit, but then one good session is all it takes to flip my attitude and loving the game again

If you cashed your first three tournaments you were extremely lucky. You remember when bad luck hurt you; do you remember when good luck helped you?

I've wanted to quit a TON of times. Part of the problem with playing poker professionally is that when you don't play, you don't earn, and there's a massive pull to play literally as much as you possibly can. If you're on a hot streak, you want to take advantage. If you're on a cold streak, you want to get that next cash so you don't have that bitter taste. It's a vicious cycle. I think the key is to work in non-poker breaks. Literally force yourself to go do other things for a few days a month, just something to clear your mind a bit. I usually feel a bit better and not as burned out when I do that.

I played pokerstars for about 5 years on and off. I didn't keep track of my winnings or losings but noticed I was depositing more than withdrawing. After some time I knew Online Poker wasnt for me. I was a good player when I played diciplined but my problem was I was tilting too much and losing. Online Poker isnt for me but I still play my home games

Started playing in 2008 on Paddypower (Ipoker) and I had similar issues to the above poster with tilt. I would build a roll but there was no discipline in my game so when I lost I would try too hard to get back to the roll I had and lost several rolls through that. I came close to quitting at this point.

Left that site in 2010 when they changed the software and joined 888 where I instantly loved the site and crucially I read a lot about tilt and bankroll management which has helped me enormously.

I all but left 888 in 2017 playing a little for a couple of years because of the change in software that I didn't like and the worst bonus requirements I have ever witnessed in the industry. The games all but dried up and everything turned to super turbo format which I don't like.

I briefly played on Stars but never really liked it and cannot even explain why. I had a Partypoker account so I deposited €50 in March and have been doing ok since. I would describe myself as a recreational/social player who likes to develop rivalries with opponents at the table and have a bit of banter with people and I play microstakes at low volume and treat poker as fun and not about the money. No place matched 888 for this aspect imo pre 2017 when they removed chat and changed software. Players hardly interact at the table on Party these days which is a shame.

Yeh its hard, even though in spots like this I know I shouldn't care because its +ev and will average out in the end etc etc. But its super difficult not to let it destroy my mood.

I wanna quit holdem. Omaha is such a better game imo

Yeah after 20 years with some breaks I am quitting. Just made a thread about it actually.