The Frustration of Dominated Hands

Poker was frustrating last night. I had AK three times and lost twice to hands that were dominated. Actually, I would have lost three times out of three had I not hit a king on the turn when John had A5 and hit a five on the flop. The past two outings at Craig’s I got knocked out of the tournament with AK to AQ and KQ. These bloody queens are killing me!
The lesson I’m trying to absorb is feeling good about getting the money in with the best of it. I have no control over what cards come out, so I really shouldn’t waste any energy getting upset over the fact that my dominating hands are losing. It’s hard though. A small part of me still wants justice in poker. Poker is not about justice though, certainly not in the short term. Poker is about pain and fate. It’s like life. It’s painful seeing a hand with way the best of it lose to a poor “call.” I notice many of Craig’s poker players will push or call with AQ and KQ. It’s a dangerous play because if you’re called you’re almost certainly behind.
I made one bad move last night and I knew it was but I was getting tired. I pushed all in with JJ and Chris quickly called with Aces. Chris is an easy player to play against post-flop. He likes to bet out small when his hand doesn’t hit. He bets big if his hand connects. I should have just called his preflop raise and see what he did on the flop and turn. I would have had my answer. Instead I just moved all in with 6,000 in chips to his 3000 in chips. He had the bounty and I was putting big pressure on him. I don’t know, maybe it wasn’t that bad a play.
I had good cards last night: AA, KK, JJ, AK three or four times, AQ twice. I didn’t get paid off with these hands though. I’m so tight it’s tough for me to get any action. Another frustrating night to chalk up to experience. I will be playing a lot of poker this weekend as I try and win an entry into the World Series of Poker. I will play satellites and see what happens. Wish me luck!