Preferring to play with "good" players...

[Reel Deal]

I think, obviously, a lot of this depends on the game. In a tournament where the blinds keep increasing you can't just play ultra-tight and you're forced to make a move or you'll get eaten up by the blinds. In that setting I'd rather face good players for the reasons you stated TP. In a ring game though, I like to have a loose maniac there where I can just wait him out, hit a monster and take all his money. So, as is usually the case with poker, it all depends.

[Talking Poker]

That's pretty much what I said... for big tourneys, I prefer better players. For cash games, I prefer bad ones. The more donkeys, the better. You know, like the moron who just called me down with his 44 (I had KK) only to spike his 2 outer on the river.

[Reel Deal]

Good proof of this is the monthly home game I've been playing in... I now know these guys well enough that I know who I can and can't put a move on. Our September game was my most succesful to date (grossed $260 - $80 buy-in), we played 4 SnGs (8 players) and I won the first 2 and came in second in the last 2! The scary thing was that I damn near won all four! When I was heads-up in the 3rd game I had a slightly smaller stack than the other guy and after a few hands we both went all-in after the flop and I was way ahead in the hand, he then goes runner-runner to beat me. During heads-up in the 4th game I again had a smaller stack, but not by a lot, and again got the other player to go all-in when I was ahead, he then hit's a 4-out gut-shot on the river.

The other highlight of the night was when I wasn't in a hand and there were two guys left and one of them went all-in after the river. I looked over at the guy that was struggling to decide whether to call the all-in and said, "he's got A-10, so if you can't beat that lay it down." The guy that went all in looks over at me and I could see his eyes get bigger, the other player does fold and the guy that went all-in shows... A-10. He then says, "shit, how'd you know that?" I just smiled and said nothing. It is nice to "know" the guys you're playing with.