[Rockfish]

Here's the setup. I'm running over the Paradise 0.5/1 game. I'm not a great player. Recently, I've been tight, aggressive and judicious in when to lay it down. I'm probably greater than 3 standard deviations over where I should be in terms of win rate and I acknowledge that.

The games are loose and mostly passive. People are calling raises cold with ungodly cheese and bluffing way too much. I've been sticking to premium hands, raising more than calling, and folding most of the time. I haven't called a raise cold yet.

Now. I move up to 1/2 to try my hand knowing that statistically fewer players are seeing the flop. I'm playing the same premium hands using the same strategy, and I can't win a hand. I've done this twice for two short sessions and each time I've lost exactly what I could afford so the investment is not a problem. The problem is how it's happening.

Here is what I have observed. Last night I played premium hands, raising when first in, avoiding offsuit cards, pushing top pair top kicker, only to see my buy-in and a little more disappear. Every time I raised, the two players to my left called cold. Every time. Inevitably one of them (usually one in particular) would catch up on the river and then bet into me. They weren't playing good cards either. It was stuff like T4s with a T and a K on the flop sticking around to catch a third ten on the river against my TPTK with AK and the like.

I like to think I did not tilt. OK, once I raised with A8s in late position with 4 callers in front but dumped on the flop when I missed completely.

My question is this. Given that you are almost sure that these two conditions exist: 1) the two players to your left are going to call your raises (along with others now that the pot is offering good odds because nobody is reraising) and; 2) the only players sticking around after the flop have caught a piece of it (which I accept as reasonable by the way), how do YOU adjust.

All opinions and advice will be welcome.

Rockfish