[Baron Greenback]

I'm really struggling. I used to cash in these $1 STT's regularly but the playing style on those tables has completely changed since the ipoker migration. Everyone's so much looser, I can't get a read on anyone before my chips are down to nothing.

Last night was a real kick in the nuts. I watched a few hands unfold with lots of callers all the way through to see the winner flip bottom pair or a high card over. I decided I would push top pair hard. I need to get my money in when I have the best hand to accumulate chips. Then I have a chance to outplay these guys. When I hit top pair, after 20 hands, I push it to get called down (as I expected) by....... flopped two pair!! Aaaaaaagh! Ordinarily I would not push top pair so hard. And when I looked at the hand history, my play just looks amateurish. It's fair to say I'm a little card dry at the moment. You can't steal the blinds in these tournies any more until you get down to the bubble so you're relying on cards. But I should STILL be able to beat these tables. The play is definitely worse, so why are my results?!?!

If I move up the stakes, I feel like I'll be admitting defeat. But it's been 10 tournies since I've cashed. I'm frustrated. Is it the correct strategy to push hard with top pair at tables like these? Do I need to move to an 'all in or fold ' strategy? Should I just move up the stakes or go to a ring game where the blinds are constant?

Maybe I should stay away from the tables for a while.