How to get yourself to more poker after a crushing defeat?

[F1ghtC1ub]

Hi, this is my second post, about the Party Poker Quarter Million tournament again. I am generally a low stakes player and I worked extremely hard to win a sub qualier and then a single table qualifier to get into the big tournament. I play great poker (in my mind) and with 150 or so players left I feel fantastic about the prospect of even winning the $300 130th place prize. Then this hand happens...

***** Hand History for Game 707477453 *****
Table Quarter Million Guaranteed(24881) Table #6 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 1: exclusivefan ( $3600 )
Seat 2: bullfish ( $5020 )
Seat 4: snappoker ( $3318 )
Seat 6: Moniquewon ( $3920 )
Seat 7: who2003 ( $11672 )
Seat 9: geniuszowa ( $11114 )
Seat 10: F1ghtC1ub ( $2567 )
Seat 5: MarvinGarden ( $6470 )
Seat 8: Barryma ( $13967 )
Trny:4395051 Level:10
Blinds (300/600)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to F1ghtC1ub [ Kd Ac ]
MarvinGarden folds.
Moniquewon folds.
who2003 folds.
Barryma raises [1200].
geniuszowa folds.
F1ghtC1ub is all-In.
exclusivefan folds.
rawbeef has joined the table.
Player rawbeef has been moved to table Quarter Million Guaranteed(24881) Table #17 table
bullfish folds.
snappoker folds.
Barryma calls [1367].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ts, 8c, Kc ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qc ]
** Dealing River ** [ 4d ]
Barryma shows [ Js, Ah ] a straight, ten to ace.
F1ghtC1ub shows [ Kd, Ac ] a pair of kings.
Player F1ghtC1ub finished in 159 place
Barryma wins 6034 chips from the main pot with a straight, ten to ace.
F1ghtC1ub has left the table.

My AK loses to AJ. After the flop and I saw the king I felt a great feeling of joy. Even after the board was complete I thought I had won and then the "you have place 15xth in the tournament" message popped up and my heart fell onto the floor. I feel helpless right now. I want to play more tournaments but it feels like an uphill battle from here after getting so far and not getting anything. I spent nearly 4 hours of my life working hard and have nothing to show for it. How do I sike myself back into playing good poker and more tournaments? Has a similar situation happened to anyone else?

thanks again
FightClub

[Frogger]

Just like Aaliyah - If at first you don't suucceeeeddd dust yourself of and try again. You can dust it off just try and try again try again.

[Cosimo]

I think you mean 'psych', not 'sike'. Short for 'psychologically motivate.'

I'd advise not expecting regular results in huge tournaments. It's regularly going to take a long time to place in the money. There were another 20 people that played longer than you did, yet still won nothing.

If you like no limit, give Sit-n-Gos a try. The time investment is lower and your chance for winning is higher.

[ChicagoTroy]

"I spent nearly 4 hours of my life working hard and have nothing to show for it."

How long have you been playing poker? This is common.

[steamboatin]

I would venture to say, that it has happened to everyone of us, more times than we would like to admit. Tourneys are tough and there is a lot of luck involved. You have heard many people say, "That's Poker" this is what they are talking about.

Conan the Barbarian said."Anything that doesn't kill you makes you stronger!"

[ewile]

do you really feel like 4 hours is that long in light of the potential reward? It's not like it's hard labor.

That being said, I do feel and have felt your dissapointment. Study more, practice more...give it another shot!

[Gildersneeze]

Yeah, really. Think about the pros in the World Poker Tour or the WSOP who play for several DAYS in the same tourney and then bust out on the bubble or last in the final table. Four hours in a tourney to lose is jack sh*t if you plan on playing tourneys frequently.

Unfortunately, bad beats happen Pocket Aces get cracked by a sucker playing Pocket Twos for all his chips. In the second hand of a tournament, I got pocket Tens cracked by 72o when a guy caught a seven high straight on the river. He bluffed, raising all-in (around a third of my stack) and I was the only caller from late position. Just realize "that's poker," and move on. They'll lose to you in the long run.

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
I spent nearly 4 hours of my life working hard and have nothing to show for it

[/ QUOTE ]

So what? Sounds like an average poker afternoon, but for most people, without the chance to make huge bucks doing it.

Tourneys need luck, even if you're truly, truly great. If you don't feel like gambling, just play ring games and grind out a more predictable level of income per hour.