Mixed it up

Today I played the 5 pm 2k Seven Card stud tournament, and this was actually the first time I have ever played it live. I knew I couldn't play the game in a sophisticated manner like I do hold em, but I wanted to change it up and get some experience in other games. Plus, I needed a break from the barrage of beats NL has been giving me. I started off hanging around even in the event, but then I bricked out a few big draws and was down to 2k around level 3. From here I rebounded, and I managed to win a few big pots (one full house over full house) and was at 6k going into the dinner break. The average stack was only 4.5k, so I was in good shape. After returning from dinner, I just got pummeled and lost three big hands, which you can't do when the betting limits get higher. My first hit came when I had the exact same two pair as Brad Berman but he had a better kicker. That was frustrating. A few hands later I start off with AKT all clubs and the turn is a Jack. My opponent was showing nothing higher than a 7 and was playing his hand like a small pair (which he had) so I literally had any card ten or higher as outs. I managed to brick out and ended up with a pair of threes, while my opponent made 6's up. My knock hand was pretty sick. The bring in guy was directly to my left, so I had the best position at the table, and it folded to Brad Berman (he was directly to my right) who had the Ace of clubs showing and raised. This is a standard raise spot and I couldn't give him credit for having an Ace. I look down and see I have three clubs so I call his completion. We both pull a club on fourth, and he bets and I raise. He calls and we both again pull clubs on fifth. I now have a Queen high flush on fifth, and he's showing the AKT of clubs. I knew two clubs were already folded earlier, so I felt it was very unlikely he had a flush. Plus I only had like 1k left in chips and there was no way I was folding. He calls my raise and on 6th pulls another damn club! I only have 400 left so I call and he of course has a buried club, and thus a higher flush. That was all she wrote for me. I wanted to play this game to try and end the cycle of running bad, but it seems to be following me wherever I go.

I really have concluded that tournament poker is depressing. Unless you are on of these sickos who manages to cash in like 1/3 of the tournaments they enter, it just really kills you. This is especially true when you play tight, aggressive like I do. The most common scenario is that I manage to get a little above the starting stack, which allows me to play for around 7 hours until the blinds become crucial and I'm forced to gamble and race a little. I haven't been winning the races lately and have just been playing for 6-8 hours then busting, which gets really frustrating. I need to learn how to get one of those monster stacks where I can just play really aggressive and take chances without risking too much. There are a couple of $1500 events in the next few weeks so maybe I will experiment during those...