Accas are a tax on hope and I’ll happily keep paying it

Put a 6 leg acca on at the weekend for £12 and got the first 5 in, last one let it down by one goal and that was that. It was one of those where every single pick looked fine when I placed it, not wild odds, just trying to build it up instead of taking singles. By the time it got to the last match I was already looking at the return and thinking about it like it was on the way in.

What gets me is I know exactly what these are and I still keep doing them. It isn't even that I go mad with them, I keep the stake small on purpose, but the pull is always there because a boring set of prices turns into a proper payout once you tie them together. That's why I call them a tax on hope, you're paying for that little run where it still looks alive.

Has anyone had a run with accas where you're always one leg short for weeks and then it turns around, or is that just how it goes with these and you only remember the near misses more? I had two this month that died on the last leg and one that went down on a push turning into nothing (well, not nothing, just nowhere near what it looked like).

I do mostly size things pretty carefully so this isn't me firing half the bankroll at nonsense, it's more that I allow myself these because the outlay is low and I can live with it. But then I look back and think if I'd put the same £12 across singles I'd almost certainly be better off. Still ended up building another one the next day, which says enough.

How do people on here handle accas if you like them but don't want them eating all the value out of your week? Do you cap yourself to one a weekend, keep them to 3 or 4 legs, or just accept they're for fun and stop trying to pretend they're a sharp bet. I'm not asking from theory, I mean in practice what do you do when you know the price is the bait and you still click it anyway.

I had the cash out open in another tab for the last game and didn't touch it, which might be the part annoying me most now. Not even sure I would've taken it if it was a bit higher, but once it loses you start rewriting it in your head. Curious how other people treat these because I swear accas survive on that exact moment where you can already see the return before it's yours, thanks