Another Up and Down Day

I don't understand how some of the players at the new level play, and haven't gone broke yet. Here's a quick breakdown of how I lost the first tourneys.
Tourney #1: BB is all in, he lost a big hand. I have QQ in early position and raise to 300 with 1650 behind. The player to my left re-raises to 900. Now I could have decided to fold, but I know that he doesn't have AA or KK, most likely J's, 10's or AK. I shove and he calls off about 2/3 of his stack. Sure enough, he has AK and flops an ace. Most people would say, it's a race and you lost. But think about the hand for a second. There's a player all in already. I'm telling you I have a hand, and he decides to call off most of his stack with AK. If he doesn't hit, he's crippled with the blinds at 50/100. I think it was a horrible play on his part.
Tourney #2: Pretty standard. I'm in the BB with AK and only have about 10 big blinds. Early position raise, I shove and he calls with QQ. I flop an ace, but he also flopped a queen.
Tourney #3: I'm in late position with KJ off. I haven't really been raising all that much, so I thought my raise would get some respect. I raised to 275 with the blinds at 50/100. The small blind called, and the flop came K-8-6 rainbow. He bets out 200, which I then raise to 775. He goes all in and it's a no brainer. I call and he shows K2???? He rivered a 2....UGH!
Tourney #4: I'm in late again. UTG limps, he's been doing that with a lot of weak hands. I have A9 off and 895 chips with the blinds at 60/120. I shove, he calls with 55 and I lose the race.
Tourney #5: We're 6 handed, and I'm UTG with AK off. The blinds are 30/60 and I have 1310 in chips. I raise to 180. The button calls and the flop comes K-7-4. I check to the button, he had been very aggressive. He bets 360 into 450. I just call. The turn brings the 7 of clubs, now two clubs on board. I check again, pretty much pot committed. He bet the pot, and I call off my stack to find out he had AA. What a cold deck.
Tourney #6: I lost a big hand, where I had the nut flush draw and he had a straight draw and got there. So I was short stacked. I pushed in the small blind, into the big blind with 77. He had AK, lost the race and was out.
Tourney #7: The worst one of all. I was in the BB with AK of hearts. The button limps, and I raise to 175 with the blinds at 25/50. He calls and the flop came K-6-3 with two hearts. YAHTZEE. Top pair, top kicker and the nut flush draw. I bet 250, he calls. The turn brings the queen of hearts...FLUSH. I bet out 550, he raises all in. I call, he shows KQ. I bet you can guess the river....lol. Queen on the river. I'm out of another one.
It gets frustrating to get your money in as a huge favorite or just in a race situation and lose. I try to take them well, and don't really let them bother me. The only reason why I recount these situations, is to try and find a way I could have played the hand better. I feel that I played each hand both the way I should have, and in the best possible way. I know that beats and suckouts are going to happen. I play aggressively and I also change gears a lot. So I know that some players just don't understand that I'm not always bluffing.
It's good to get picked off bluffing from time to time. This will usually make your opponent come after you later on. They will think that you're bluffing again. You have to balance your bluffs and know which players can and cannot be bluffed. I ran into a lot of weak, passive and calling stations. Here's a great example of what I'm talking about.
I had been somewhat active at the table. I raised in position pretty frequently and just got picked off bluffing second pair on the turn. He called the flop and turn with top pair with a weak kicker. So I knew that I had to change gears and tighten up a little. A few hands later, I pick up KK and raise the exact same amount I did in the previous hand. I usually raise the same amount no matter what I have. The only time I vary my raise is by position. I tend to raise 2.5X's in early, 2.7-2.8X's in middle, and 3X's in late. I'll explain why in a later post. So I raise to 400 again with the blinds at 80/160. The big blind calls and the flop comes A-K-7 rainbow. The BB checked and I knew that I had to gamble and give him a card that he could bluff. He was a very aggressive player, so I wanted to hang him, plus I knew he just saw me show a bluff. The turn brings a 6 of spades, now 2 spades on board. He bet the pot. Right now, there's only one hand that beats me, AA. No way he has that. So I just call, again, I'm not worried about getting drawn out on, if it happens it happens. But I want to get maximum value for my hand. The river brings a 2. He shoves all in. He has me covered, and the trap has been triggered. I call and he shows 10-7 off. I'm all for aggression, but this play is just stupidly aggressive. I raised UTG and just called when he bet the turn. It's just amazing that these players can't shut down. They are willing to two and three barrel with second or third pair, or a complete bluff. It's just hilarious.
So I'm down about $60 right now, but hopefully the cards will start breaking my way. I just have to stay aggressive and picking my spots. I'm sure everything will work out in the end.