Quote Originally Posted by jackvance
Here are some examples to shed some light into my aggravations:

I sit down at a table, I make some money right off the bat when a guy throws his $1.5 all-in when I'm holding AA. The table seems to be more aggressive than usual though. When I get AT, I raise 3BB, three callers.. flop gives all low cards. I raise 3BB to weed out the chasers, one fold, two callers. Turn is another blank, so I check, the guy next to me raises $1.20. The other guy calls, and I fold (I got nothing). Showdown shows that the $1.20 raise came from the exact same hand I had.. AT.. and he won the pot with high card!
DO NOT FOCUS ON RESULTS!!! Only focus on your decisions. What you just wrote is the equivalent of the following train of thought. I get dealt 27os and fold, everyone else limps. Flop comes 222 and someone goes all-in! OMG I woulda had quads and taken all his money!! I am so dumb!! From now on since this table is full of fish I wll just limp everything as well.

Don't bring yourself down to your opp's skill level. Your goal is to play better than them, not join them.

Quote Originally Posted by jackvance
Table runs a bit dry, I move away. New table is a bit more passive. A typical downplayers-fest. One hand should outline what this means. I'm holding J2 on the BB, three limpers, I check in there. Flop gives KK6. Hm, anyone holding the K? I check to see if anyone claims to have it. Three checks. Turn gives another K. Should a guy be holding it, he'll have quads now. I raise 3BB to probe for potential people holding it. Two people call. The river gives a J. So now I have full house.. only the K would beat me. So I raise 5BB.. one fold, the last guy reraise me to 10BB. Hm, what to think of this? My GUT tells me his holding the K. But all he did was play a passive game. Maybe thinking I am bluffing so he reraises me? Or he has a 6 and a full house below mine? Ok, I call. Ofcourse he had the king..
Why probe a nothing pot? Check/fold. When you do get called (TWICE!!) on that turn there learn to give it up. How else is someone gonna play quads at this level? I could understand a check/call on that river, but your bet/call deserves no sympathy.

Quote Originally Posted by jackvance
See? I can't really seem to get a grip of these people.. are they bluffing with nothing, downplaying the nuts? What the hell are they doing? I have no idea most of the time since it's so very random, so I don't really know what to do, unless *I* hit the nuts but that's ever so rare.. in the more likely scenario where I get something but there's better stuff out there, whatever my opponents do seems to be all random..

Any ideas?
You aren't getting a "grip" for two reasons: 1) retards are unreadable, they will call with anything, so just wait for your hands and make em pay, 2) stop playing down to their level. It is OK, no it is GOOD to FOLD. FOLDING is the best move in poker BY FAR!!! The vast majority of your winnings will come from folding hands that give other people better hands and maximizing your value when you do hit a monster. Stealing blinds and small pots just keeps you even.