OK, let me preface this by saying that my intent in posting this is part rant and part genuine request for advice.

I generally play low buy-in tourneys on PokerStars, and in the past while I've ended up just out of the money 4th or 5th most times. Normally, I kind of take solace in knowing I play at least well enough to get there, but thats not the point. Like all of us, I want to win.

The problem is, in the past four tournaments consecutive (this is no exaggeration), I have been beaten out in what I consider disgusting circumstances.

I'd also like to add that I'm not suggesting in any way that online poker is rigged.

Three of the past four I've found myself kind of short stacked at four people left, paying three, with either one or two people with a huge chip lead (basically them and then me and another with an M of less than 10). I get a decent hand (AJ+, high pocket pairs, even flopped a straight once) and I've been beaten, every single time, by someone making at best a marginal call and sucking one out on the turn or river.

The last tourney I was in, I was dealt AA first hand. I should have had alarm bells ringing off in my head, but in mid-position a guy raises 4 times the BB. I raise him to 12 times BB, and he goes all-in. It's a difficult position, but I called, he turns over (of all things) 22. What happens? Of course, he flops his set and I am out not only in last place, but on the first hand.

How do you guys handle situations like this? I am on this run where I am dominating, like 80%+ to win a hand, and sit there thinking, "Not this or that", and of course, its always "this" or "that". Every single time today that I've been in this situation, the result has been someone sucking one out on me. Again, I am not exaggerating my plight in the least.

I've done it to people in the past, of course, so I'm not trying to characterise this as something I never do to others, but this is just ridiculously frustrating. I know a bit of a break from the game is due, for at least the weekend, and I also know that the amount of money I've lost could certainly be characterised as trivial (hey, on a per hour basis I'm getting more so-called entertainment than a movie), but this still has me upset, on the ropes, my confidence very, very shaken.

I'm not really looking for a discussion of my strategy with the plays I made as I am comfortable with all of them (save for the results), but I guess more looking to blow off some steam and perhaps some other suggestions.

This is an easy situation. You call and you win exactly as many as you should and you lose as many as you should. Unfortunately a lot of the losses may come before the appropriate number of wins materialise.

It's really important to come up with a way to deal with this. Good bankroll management helps because you are able to think in the long run rather than the hand (or tourney) in front of you.

5 minutes ago I lost a heads up tourney. I'd been back and forth with the guy for 15 minutes, he came back from a 4 to 1 disadvantage by winning with Q5 V my A5s and then when we were level again he called my allin with JQ V my KJ and hit a Q on the flop.

It hurt for all of 5 seconds and then it's gone, because being a decent player means not letting it get to you (and also perhaps not pushing KJ HU) and I'd like to be a decent player.

But recognising you have a potential problem is always the first step to fixing it