Bad Beats And Bad Beats

This is probably the post you can just skip and move along to somewhere more interesting on the Internet, but I need an outlet. I need to vent a little.

You hold QQ. You raise. You see a flop of J42. You bet the pot and get raised the min raise. You push. Your opponent has AJ. Turn: 2. River: J.

In a SNG, first hand dealt ITM, you hold QQ. You raise 3x BB. You get a lone caller. Flop: Q92. You bet the pot. Your opponent pushes all-in. You call. He holds: KJ. Turn: A. River. T. 3rd place. Yay.

You hold 65 of diamonds in the BB. You see a flop of 874, two spades. Someone bets $3. You raise to $9 to protect your hand. Behind you someone pushes for $28. You call. He holds T3 of spades. Turn: Spade. River: Spade.

Let's analyze this one a little, shall we? T3 guy had $.50 invested in the pot, saw a $3 bet, then a $9 raise, and shoved in $16 more on a 1 in 3 chance at a flush, of which his kicker would be a fucking TEN. I'm baffled at why in the world a T3 sooooted would even be worth 50 damn cents to begin with.

And the beats go on. I'll spare you the details.

I find myself at a point where I'm questioning making bets with the nuts, for fear of some ridiculous runner-runner suckout. No, that's not logical. And yes, I keep right on betting to protect my hand and betting for value. And the bankroll dwindles to levels I don't even want to discuss.

I know playing in NL cash games can be a high variance situation. I know that playing against morons who play T3s, and go all in on four-flushes is supposed to swing that variance my way and equate to +EV. I play tight. I avoid big confrontations (to a fault I think sometimes) unless I have the nuts or a solid read. I fold and fold waiting for flopped sets and BB-special straights, and hit the gas. And I get callers chasing crap or dominated hands. And they spike.

In NL cash games, I make mistakes, too. But it's usually a $3 bluff. Or betting into a full house with trips and not throwing on the brakes quick enough. Is it just the bad side of variance, or are there leaks I'm just not seeing? Is $25NL the wrong place for my dwindling roll?

I have no answers. In life in general, I tend to be an "ok, now what?" sort of person most of the time. I deal with the facts, fix what I can, ignore what I can't, and move on.

It's time for a break. Good luck out there.