A perfect example of why tournaments really suck

I wrote a blog a while back about why tournaments are torture. You play well, or get lucky, long enough to make it to a final table. Unfortunately by the time you get there, the only skill left in the game is knowing when to put your chips in.

So, in this final table example from tonight there's over 5K in the pot before the cards are even dealt. I have the biggest stack at the table and if I folded every hand I would only last 5 rounds. Based on the stack sizes no one should be just calling anything. Everyone should be either pushing all in or folding and that's it, according to anyone who's read Harrington on Holdem v2 which is one of the best books on tournament holdem.

So I spend over an hour and a half being patient, playing smart only to have this happen:

Full Tilt Poker Game #10199543812: $3 + $0.30 KO Sit & Go (77297372), Table 1 - 1200/2400 Ante 300 - No Limit Hold'em - 2:33:25 ET - 2009/01/23
Seat 1: Kaybobsaces (27,780)
Seat 2: merscher (20,438)
Seat 3: marcus006 (33,955)
Seat 4: SHancHoPanzza (19,950)
Seat 5: Dray (37,505)
Seat 6: winchester44 (34,064)
Seat 7: canroc (31,678)
Seat 8: qderr (28,314)
Seat 9: rocco4750 (36,316)
Kaybobsaces antes 300
merscher antes 300
marcus006 antes 300
SHancHoPanzza antes 300
Dray antes 300
winchester44 antes 300
canroc antes 300
qderr antes 300
rocco4750 antes 300
merscher posts the small blind of 1,200
marcus006 posts the big blind of 2,400
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dray [Kc Kd]
SHancHoPanzza folds
Dray raises to 6,600
winchester44 folds
canroc folds
qderr folds
rocco4750 folds
Kaybobsaces raises to 10,800
merscher folds
marcus006 has 15 seconds left to act
marcus006 raises to 33,655, and is all in
Dray raises to 37,205, and is all in
Kaybobsaces calls 16,680, and is all in
Dray shows [Kc Kd]
Kaybobsaces shows [Th Tc]
marcus006 shows [Qs Ah]
Uncalled bet of 3,550 returned to Dray
*** FLOP *** [Ad 2d 3d]
*** TURN *** [Ad 2d 3d] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [Ad 2d 3d 6s] [5s]
Dray shows a pair of Kings
marcus006 shows a pair of Aces
marcus006 wins the side pot (12,350) with a pair of Aces
Kaybobsaces shows a pair of Tens
marcus006 wins the main pot (86,340) with a pair of Aces
Dray: *sigh*
Kaybobsaces stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 98,690 Main pot 86,340. Side pot 12,350. | Rake 0
Board: [Ad 2d 3d 6s 5s]
Seat 1: Kaybobsaces (button) showed [Th Tc] and lost with a pair of Tens
Seat 2: merscher (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: marcus006 (big blind) showed [Qs Ah] and won (98,690) with a pair of Aces
Seat 4: SHancHoPanzza folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Dray showed [Kc Kd] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 6: winchester44 folded before the Flop
Seat 7: canroc folded before the Flop
Seat 8: qderr folded before the Flop
Seat 9: rocco4750 folded before the Flop

A perfect example of why tournaments suck. You spend all your time fighting to get to the end where skill is irrelevant and luck really has more to do with your results than anything you do.

But this is poker and that's what happens. All I can do is the usual: let out a sigh, roll my eyes and move on to the next torture test.