You are a bad player. Trust me on this.

[BlibbityBlabbity]

Being able to adjust to the skill of the players you are sitting with is really what a lot of this boils down to. I think that is also implied in TP's first post on this thread.

If you read a book or two about how to crush play proper high limit strategy and then sit down at a $.50/$1 table and employ that strategy, guess who will lose money in the long run?

Without the experience that fills in the blanks before you get to higher limits, you will be throwing money away making plays that at pots when you are likely in a game full of calling stations.

This is why the "how you played AA" comes into play. There are many inventive ways to play AA when you are going to be heads up in a pot and need to disguise the strength of your hand to get the most out of it. But, if you will likely have 6-8 players in the hand with you if you "smooth call" with it from EP (vs only 4-6 if you raise with it inEP ) you are doing yourself a disservice by calling. Once you get a few players to limp behind you, getting them to get out of the way is next to impossible.

It is VERY hard sometimes to look long term in games full of crappy players. I have played at tables I KNEW were goldmines and busted out 2-3 times before I proceeded to take it all back from the 2-3 players who were just giving it away. The key is to find a way NOT to go off because "that moron called wit that flush draw when he didn't have the odds...." and just keep waiting for situations to put him back in that same situation again....and again....and again.....

Seems like there are two fairly distinct sides to this discussion. IMO, while there frequently seems to be a target planted on your forehead (bad luck), just keep it level and keep looking for players putting money in the middle in bad spots.

Maybe some of you who seem down should keep notes on your play All the time. Have you ever been on a good run? Write it down, start a blog, etc.

So much of poker at some level comes down to attitude at the table and internally that sitting down waiting for a suckout will just tear you up.

[Zybomb]

While playing in a tournament last night, I came across an example of what I was trying to say earlier, how the one downfall of playing with idiots, is it takes so many weapons out of your arsonal.

We were playing a very unorthodox blind structure of 50 starting chips, 1/2 blinds which were raised every half hour -- needless to say one hand could really hurt you (a standard raise and a CB is more than 1/5 your chips if it fails)

Blind were up to 2/4 -- I have 48 chips and Im dealt AJo. A player limps, and a player directly to the right of me makes a largish raise to 16. This player was definately a bad player, but he was aggressive, and I knew he had been raising with trash all night. A reraise all in here should take down the pot which is as big as half my stack here. So I do just that, and against someone normal this would of worked, but apparently K6s was enough to warrant a call here, the burn card is a jack (flipped up) , the flop and turn blanks, the river a 6.

The issue with fish is yea technically I know Im ahead here so I guess I "want" him to make the call -- but I really dont. I want to win the pot right there. I dont wanna go into some no skill drawout where Im a slight favorite. In fact if he showed me his hand and said Im calling your raise if you raise, Id probably fold -- I can pick a much better spot. I made the raise to pick up the pot because I thought it would (and it should have)

[Talking Poker]

Yet another example of single hand not holding up. And it's not like it was that unlucky, anyway. You were like a 60/40 favorite. I don't like to gamble (and I do consider that gambling) for all my chips, but in a game like that, there are plenty of people who do. So like you said, wait for a better spot. Sure, it removes a weapon from your aresonal. So what? Just adapt your game to fit the circumstances. Wait until you have a big pair to make that play, since you know you are going to get called. Or else just throw it away and avoid big pots like you know you should in that game.

I'm willing to bet that if you have kept records, you are well ahead in that game.

[Zybomb]

I think you misunderstood -- I wasnt saying that it was unlucky -- in fact I said if he told me he was gunna call if I pushed and then showed me his cards, I would of just folded to his raise. I made the play because itd increase my stack by over 50% and I knew he was weak and probably would (and should of) folded to the raise. I was just pointing out an instance where bad players limit the things you can do. (such as make this play, instead I would of had to fold to the raise. Or do a little stop and go without a pair on him -- that would of been funny lol) Its especially annoying in a game with such an odd blind structure, where you are forced to make moves

The adapt to your game part is dead on though. I think thats the single most important thing you can do in any tournament / cash game.