This weekend has been a tough one. I played the first four tournaments and got bad beat out of each one at various points in the tourney. A couple of runner runners and a brutal river in a few of them. I actually cashed last night and redeemed myself a bit but still failed to make the final table.

I primarily played $5 - $10 tournaments and they all were full of bizarre plays. For instance: I watched a player go all-in on the first hand with [Q][5]os. He got called by [A][K] and was immediately escorted to the rail after the river hit. However, it really makes me wonder just what goes through some of these players minds. What would make anyone push with a hand as weak as Queen Five? What would provoke a player to call the first hand for all his chips with Ace King? Obviously, there has to be a winner in the hand and in this case the best hand held up. However, it goes to show the level of thinking or lack thereof that takes place in some of these tournaments.

Last night one player said, “You can’t play the best hand in these tournaments. You have to get your chips in with the worst hand.”

Ironically enough he had been bailed out two times in the first half hour when he got his chips in bad only to hit runner runner and a miracle on the river both times. Eventually, I took his stack as the tournament moved on but it begs the question. Are we playing poker or bingo? Some nights I just don’t know.