Two main problems in online poker these days:

1. The players are better

2. The U.S. government is about to make all of our lives difficult.

So I don’t know if I’m exactly going to, um, like, play poker online anymore.

A more detailed discussion will follow.

Dot net.

Pardon the obscure “Project Runway” reference. Yesterday I played a small buy-in ($33) NLHE tourney on Party. I’ve rediscovered Party Poker during the past few weeks, having not played there in a while, and the level of tourney play is gloriously poor. People are putting all their chips in with hands like AT, A3, JT, and all without even a moment’s thought. This is the fourth time in a row I soared to top ten in chips within the first hour of play.

It’s also the fourth time in a row that I lost my whole stack in two hands, taking down 50th place money instead of 1st. In this case, QQ ran into TT (ten in the door), and AK ran into AQ (queen on the turn). And boom, I clear $30 instead of $4000.

This story would be just another boring bitchfest if it wasn’t for the fact that…oh, wait. It *is* just a boring bitchfest. I know I have to accept the downside of ludicrous donkey calls if I’m also going to profit from the other side of such play, which got me my stack in the first place. The problem is, I’m not sure how to minimize the downside. I find I start to develop a fatalistic attitude as the tourney progresses. For example, as soon as I saw the pocket tens on my QQ hand, I grimaced and “knew” a ten was coming. This is not healthy behavior. What am I supposed to do, fold QQ because I “know” I’m going to get sucked out on?

I realize poker is a game of luck as well as skill. I realize that entering a hand as a four to one favorite still means I am going to lose one out of five times. But does anyone have any suggestions for dealing with this nasty business? If you do, I believe a Nobel Prize is in your future.

What can I say, they get me every time lately. Nothing much to report. Hence the lack of posts. If you need poker-related entertainment, I suggest you watch “High Stakes Poker” tonight. Or ask yourself what is so entertaining about poker, and then email me with the answer.