How to deal with sequential bad beats?

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AntoniodeLima0

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Bad beats are common for all players, but how do you deal with them when you are eliminated from several tournaments in a row while being ahead of the game? It's difficult to get to a tournament, we all know how much it requires of us, I see that I have improved in the choices, but it's frustrating and discouraging one after the other...
 
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ph_il

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the only way to get over negative variance is to keep playing and put in more volume. assuming, of course, you're making +ev decisions. if you have a lot of -ev leaks in your game, then those need to be plugged.

if you're on a downswing, do things to reduce variance and its impact on your bankroll. such as:

-play lower buy-in mtts
-play regular speed blinds, no turbo or hypers
-play freezeouts instead of re-entry or re-buy. or limit yourself to 1 buy-in.
-take a break if your mental health is affected. breaks don't fix variance, but it can improve your approach to the game.
 
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fundiver199

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the only way to get over negative variance is to keep playing and put in more volume. assuming, of course, you're making +ev decisions. if you have a lot of -ev leaks in your game, then those need to be plugged.

if you're on a downswing, do things to reduce variance and its impact on your bankroll. such as:

-play lower buy-in mtts
-play regular speed blinds, no turbo or hypers
-play freezeouts instead of re-entry or re-buy. or limit yourself to 1 buy-in.
-take a break if your mental health is affected. breaks don't fix variance, but it can improve your approach to the game.
All excellent advice, and I will put special emphasis on taking a break even just for the rest of the day. The reason for that is, that if the amount of bad beats is enough to make you frustrated, then you are almost certainly not playing your A-game, and you are also not enjoying yourself. And since you presumably dont depend on poker to make a living, it should always have at least an element of enjoyment to it. And there is really no shame in cutting a session short. Yesterday I was planning for a 3-4 hour SnG session starting around 4pm. But after not cashing in a single of the first 8, I said to myself "ok this is enough, I am done, and now I am going to watch a movie instead". After which I came back to the game with a fresh mindset this morning.

Also I would like to add a 5. point, which is to play smaller fields, even to the point of replacing MTTs with SnGs. Its very difficult to even reach the final table in an MTT with 1.000+ entries, so these games are enevitably going to be month or even years of losses interrupted by an occational big win. Whereas its significantly easier to win a 9-man SnG and at least get a feeling of success, even you only get your money back 4 times. Or at least find MTTs with smaller fields like 200 or less players, so that you get that feeling of success somewhat more regularly.
 
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