Hi everyone, I play mostly freeroll and micro stakes tournaments on ACR and I'm not sure what to do about bad beats on the river. Most of the time, I jot down the hand and after reflection, I ask myself whether I would've performed the same action in that scenario. If I think I would've done the same in the situation, I don't feel as bad. This week however, I've been getting knocked out repeatedly on the bubble by pre-flop all-ins, where 80% of the time, I start ahead with QQ+, AQ+ and stay ahead until the river, where I lose. Has anyone else experienced weeklong streaks (25+ tournaments, where you get knocked out on the river) of bad beats? I feel like I'm not the only one, but it's been incredibly frustrating building up a chip lead early only to bust before the bubble. Maybe I'm just impulsive or something.


Here's a sample hand:

Starting stack of ~50BB

SB: ~50 BB
BB: ~100 BB
UTG (Villain): ~48BB
UTG+1: 50BB
MP: 40BB
CO: 40BB
BTN (Hero): 55BB

Hero has AA on the button.

Pre-Flop: Villain raises 2.5x BB, UTG+1, MP, CO all fold. Hero raises to 7x BB. Villain shoves all-in, Hero calls. Villain reveals AQo. At this point, I feel pretty good about my hand equity and proud of myself because Villain's hand matched the range I put him on.

Flop comes Q95 rainbow. Not great, but still ahead. Turn comes 3 and then the river is a Q. I just get absolutely tilted. I shove my next hand from the cutoff with Q9o and hit top two pair on the turn and villain in the button this time has QJo and hits a J on the river and I get knocked out.

I know statistically, I had a chance of losing with pocket aces, but having this situation play out repeatedly in tournaments isn't great for my psychological wellbeing. What would you all do if you had a streak of bad beats on the river?

Originally Posted by natelearnspoker

Hi everyone, I play mostly freeroll and micro stakes tournaments on ACR and I'm not sure what to do about bad beats on the river. Most of the time, I jot down the hand and after reflection, I ask myself whether I would've performed the same action in that scenario. If I think I would've done the same in the situation, I don't feel as bad. This week however, I've been getting knocked out repeatedly on the bubble by pre-flop all-ins, where 80% of the time, I start ahead with QQ+, AQ+ and stay ahead until the river, where I lose. Has anyone else experienced weeklong streaks (25+ tournaments, where you get knocked out on the river) of bad beats? I feel like I'm not the only one, but it's been incredibly frustrating building up a chip lead early only to bust before the bubble. Maybe I'm just impulsive or something.


Here's a sample hand:

Starting stack of ~50BB

SB: ~50 BB
BB: ~100 BB
UTG (Villain): ~48BB
UTG+1: 50BB
MP: 40BB
CO: 40BB
BTN (Hero): 55BB

Hero has AA on the button.

Pre-Flop: Villain raises 2.5x BB, UTG+1, MP, CO all fold. Hero raises to 7x BB. Villain shoves all-in, Hero calls. Villain reveals AQo. At this point, I feel pretty good about my hand equity and proud of myself because Villain's hand matched the range I put him on.

Flop comes Q95 rainbow. Not great, but still ahead. Turn comes 3 and then the river is a Q. I just get absolutely tilted. I shove my next hand from the cutoff with Q9o and hit top two pair on the turn and villain in the button this time has QJo and hits a J on the river and I get knocked out.

I know statistically, I had a chance of losing with pocket aces, but having this situation play out repeatedly in tournaments isn't great for my psychological wellbeing. What would you all do if you had a streak of bad beats on the river?

Thank you for posting

Variance is a monster for some of us. It is not uncommon for pros to bust every WSOP they enter some summers. A Poker coach busted 19 of 19 a couple of years ago and now gives advice to others for instance.

Hope this helps