Which hurts more: Busting before the money or Busting at the final table?”

Which hurts more: Busting before the money or Busting at the final table?”

I’d say before the money. In the MTTs I play, at least I’m in the money busting the final table bubble.

busting just a little before the itm hurts harder my opinion

anbu210 said:

O que dói mais: ser eliminado antes da fase de premiação ou ser eliminado na mesa final?

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For me it's getting close to the prize, it's good at the final table

I would say it's alot more worse to lostle on a final table.

Then it is on a money bubble because you make that stage of a tournament more often.

anbu210 said:

Which hurts more: Busting before the money or Busting at the final table?”

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Getting eliminated before the money is more painful!
Whereas if you reach the final table and get busted, it does hurt at that particular moment but in the end the satisfaction of taking something home is always pleasing!

Even worse is being in the bubble. At the final table, at least you win something.

Before, elimination was always something negative, but it’s better to walk away with something than with nothing.

anbu210 said:

Which hurts more: Busting before the money or Busting at the final table?”

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For me, busting at the final table hurts more. You’re already so close to a big result and probably spent hours playing, so it feels tougher when you miss the top spots. Busting before the money is frustrating too, but at least it happens earlier and you move on faster 😄

Bursting at the final table is the worst thing to happen in my opinion . It's very sad , all this time to play and lose and get busted before the top paid places , 9th to 7th . Especially if th| game lasted far too many hours , souch time gor peanuts .

Busting before the money for sure, because it seems that all your time was spent for nothing.

No question it is before the money.

It depends on the mistake made, regardless of the stage. Now, if it were a bad bit, then I'd consider it at the Final Table. But remember, if the ICM starts with a high prize pool, I'd opt for the beginning of the ICM.

I think the first choice is more painful, to lose before ITM.

Busting on the bubble is the worst

In poker, there are two moments that players remember especially vividly — and both are not about winning, but about losing.
The first is busting on the bubble, right before reaching the prize zone.
The second is busting before the final table, when the main result is already almost within reach.
From a psychological perspective, the more painful moment is usually the bubble.
At this stage of the tournament, a player has already gone a significant distance. They have survived the early levels, adapted to table dynamics, and may even have built a comfortable stack. Throughout this time, the goal has been getting closer — not as something abstract, but as something concrete: making the money. And when elimination happens just one step before that boundary, it creates a special sense of emptiness. It is not just defeat, but the feeling that the entire journey has been erased. All the effort receives no material confirmation, not even the minimum reward.
Busting before the final table feels different.
Here, the player has already crossed an important psychological threshold — they are in the money. The very fact of cashing confirms a result, even if it is small. But another emotion takes over: the feeling of a missed peak. The final table represents big decisions, large payouts, and maximum pressure. And the closer a player gets to it, the stronger the sense of unfinished business becomes.
However, the key difference between these two situations lies in the nature of the pain.
The bubble is the pain of erased expectations.
The final table is the pain of a missed opportunity.
In the first case, the player feels they got nothing.
In the second, they feel they could have achieved much more.
That is why the bubble is often perceived as a sharper and more “empty” blow, while busting before the final table, despite deeper progression and higher stakes, still leaves the feeling of having achieved something real.

In my opinion, busting before the money hurts more. You spend hours playing, stay patient, survive tough spots, and then leave with nothing right before reaching the payouts. That feeling is brutal...

There's different levels to this. Consider that some major tournaments can involve pre-bubble play that lasts for more than a day. It's not just psychological. That's a lot of time to lose just to walk away with nothing at all.

The way I bust-out is far more important to me than when. If I think I made the right decision I'm okay with the result.

anbu210 said:

Which hurts more: Busting before the money or Busting at the final table?”

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I'd say busting as FT bubble boy is the worst.
Busting before the money is definetly worse than busting at the final table lol.
That's where the big prizes start

Since I usually bust out online from some silly impulse move that makes no sense even to me its much easier for me to take to go out before the final table, the money means nothing to me so getting to the last few, so close to being first and then busting out is gut wrenching.