I hate to ask this, but...

[Raiser]

Have the Party $22s gotten harder? I haven't played for like a month (various reasons) and played quite a few games last night and today so far. I haven't seen many tables where there are a bunch of idiots gone by the 3rd and 4th levels like it used to be. Am I just seeing weird shtuff or am I just whining or both?

[Noel Montgomery]

Maybe I've gotten worse, but it seems that players have improved all over. I have a feeling, though, that as soon as the 2005 WSOP is broadcast on ESPN the tide will turn sharply in the other direction.

[The Don]

Ramp up the aggression... just because they are tight doesn't mean they are good. I prefer an 8 handed table in level 4 to a four handed one where the stacks are 3000, 2500, 2000, (all Gus Hansens I might add) and 500 for me. No matter how maniacal these players are most still have the sense to pick on the shorty on the bubble.

[Matt R.]

Actually, I thought this myself after going on a bad downswing in cash games. I went back to STT's after losing a lot in limit, and I hadn't played them in awhile. Turns out I was actually playing pretty badly when the blinds got higher I think (probably due to having not played them for some time) -- I was being overaggressive. Once I fixed this, it felt like the games were back to normal. Since you haven't played in a month, is it possible that you changed your game slightly and that's why it appears harder to win? I'm pretty confident that this is what happened to me.

[treeofwisdom7]

Well this post comes up every couple days. Tighter play doesnt = better play, but it does make it more difficult. This might be a question better fit for the psychology section but i have a feeling that most players play tighter after hollidays and big events. Maybe some blame goes to the bombings and a sense of insecurity. I believe the fishy play will be back once the christmas seasion starts up.

Happy fish = loose bad play. Tight fish = less fish and tighter play.