Someone Please talk me down off this ledge

OK I guess I'm going through my "I suck at this game" stage and I'm on the verge of taking up Checkers or Chutes and Ladders. I've seen a few people on this site write similar posts about taking a break from the game after bad beat after bad beat. I dont think I get beat by lessor hands. I just have come to a point where I havnt found my game yet. I'm generally a tight player. I try to play only the best of hands. But it seems I can go through tournament after tournament without seeing a decent hand to play. I just played a tournament where I didnt see a single Ace for the first 40 hands. On the 41st hand I got and being blinded down and short stacked I raised 5x BB and got reraised by chip leader. Now the 5x BB was already half my chips so I push it all-in. I'm pleased to see . I'm not pleased to see flop of . Now I'm tilting. I immediately enter another tourny. First hand I get . Now I'm thinking hard, I would never play this hand. But maybe thats my problem. Maybe I should open up a bit. So I play it and heres what happens.

PokerStars Game #2567151979: Tournament #12518160, Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2005/09/13 - 16:10:13 (ET)
Table '12518160 3' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: ericpimp14 (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: lowhurtz (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: Scampsonite (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: LOVELADY PW (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: amykill (1500 in chips)
Seat 6: Sirdidi (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: BSQUAD2001 (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: gcajd (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: Moowe504 (1500 in chips)
lowhurtz: posts small blind 10
Scampsonite: posts big blind 20

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BSQUAD2001

LOVELADY PW: folds
amykill: folds
Sirdidi: calls 20
BSQUAD2001: calls 20
gcajd: calls 20
Moowe504: folds
ericpimp14: folds
lowhurtz is connected
lowhurtz: calls 10
Scampsonite: checks
*** FLOP ***
lowhurtz: checks
Scampsonite: checks
Sirdidi: bets 40
BSQUAD2001: raises 40 to 80
gcajd: calls 80
lowhurtz: folds
lowhurtz is sitting out
Scampsonite: folds
Sirdidi: calls 40

Now I bet $80 (4x BB) I mean c'mon its the first hand

*** TURN ***
Sirdidi: checks
lowhurtz has returned
BSQUAD2001: bets 500

OK. Now I'm going against all convensional wisdom. $500 bet? I'm sick of playing tight and being bluffed off pots and being bullied and outdrawn. I know I got the best hand Damn it!

gcajd: raises 900 to 1400 and is all-in
Sirdidi: folds
BSQUAD2001: calls 900 and is all-in

OK. I got raised. He must have the str8 ( Q-9 ) or trips. I DONT CARE ANYMORE. I just dont care

*** RIVER *** [Jd 3d Th Ks] [Qc]

*** SHOW DOWN ***
BSQUAD2001: shows [3c Jc] (two pair, Jacks and Threes)
gcajd: shows (a straight, Nine to King)

Why Me? He put all is money on a gutshot str8 draw? With 1 card to come.
OK. I know when I'm licked. Maybe this game aint for me. Anyone for a game of chinese checkers?

gcajd collected 3140 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3140 | Rake 0
Board [Jd 3d Th Ks Qc]
Seat 1: ericpimp14 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: lowhurtz (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: Scampsonite (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: LOVELADY PW folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: amykill folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Sirdidi folded on the Turn
Seat 7: BSQUAD2001 showed [3c Jc] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Threes
Seat 8: gcajd showed [Jh 9s] and won (3140) with a straight, Nine to King
Seat 9: Moowe504 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Wasn't it Phil Helmuth who said "If luck wasn't involved I'd win every hand". Your just going through one of those bad cycles. Hang in there, it will turn around for you.

It happens. Play some 1 cent/2 cent games and have fun. Lose a dollar and big whoop. That's a nice break before you get back into it. Or, learn to play a new game,like omaha hi'lo or something, again at the lowest money level. Consistency is the key. Over the long run if yo play consistent you will come out ahead. There are many ups and downs in the road though.

BSQUAD, your going through what I have been going through the last year and everyone thinks things even out...they get some then you get some...LOL...they won't really know what it is like untill it start turning over 90% against them...hopefully I am coming out of mine...I have now won a few hands with lessor cards...it's still much in my opponents favor, but I cant say 99%+ anymore!

I have been going through that for 3 months and just now its starting to turn for me. Ride it out, keep playing ( tighter if necessary) and things will work their way out.

OK thanks guys, I'm slowly moving in from the ledge now and climbing back in the window. Whew, that was a close one. Thanks for the support. I have to keep playing poker anyway... I played chutes and ladders with my daughter yesterday and she beat me 4 games in a row. And I cheated on 2 of them. LOL. Just Kidding.

Hi BSQUAD
Everyone goes through similar times as this..you just have to ride it out..Poker is like surfing..but you can only ride the wave for so long..right now i am in crash and burn cycle so i know what ya mean..im trying get it out by playing as many tourneys as i can so by the next THF tourny i will be riding that wave again...instead of needing waterwings and a snorkle. Kinda like that acient chinese proverb..let the numbers come to you..Hang in there and the cards will come to you!
Good luck in up coming tournys. I'll be watching for you!
Cali

BSQUAD, let me give you a little tough love here.....WTF were you doing entering another tournament right after a beat in another one?? Especially since you knew you were on tilt. You might as well just walked out to the corner an give your buy in to a homeless guy because that is money better spent. You knew you were tilting and you entered it anyway. That is not smart. I know why you did it, we all do. You entered because you wanted to A) win your money back B) win a few hands to prove you dont suck C) Both......We have all done it but it is tremendously stupid.


Another thing is that you said you were being blinded off by the 41st hand? That is only 4.5 orbits man. If you are being blinded off by 41 hands you are not playing tight...my guess is that the thought " Well I can call ONE raise with this marginal hand right?" is going through your head alot. Start using the Raise or Fold style of play.....Only limp on VERY RARE occasions. And when you raise, dont only raise the min amount like you did on the second hand. What was that raise going to accomplish? One guy already raised 40$ so you think he is going to fold for 40$ more? HEEELLLLLL no he isn't. You have to ask why you were raising? Was it to win the pot or build the pot? Throw away that 3XBB rule early in tournaments becuase almost no one is going to fold to 3xBB when the blinds are only 10$ and they have 1000$. Just try only raising or folding for a while and see how that treats you.

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Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.

Thanks Franky. I knew I could count on you to smack me up-side the head. I'm working on it. Thanks for the advice.