Bad players getting rewarded - what's all the fuss?

Ventured down for some more $2/3 No Limit Hold'em full ring game yesterday and it's fair to say I doubt I have ever been so frustrated at a poker table in my life. Over about four to five hours I witnessed some of the most shocking calls, raises and folds I have seen in the few years I have been playing poker. I'd like to share with you some of the moments that took my breath away yesterday, and while I do so, I want you to think about a couple things.
Yes, variance is an accepted theory when it comes to winning and losing at this game. I read a post several weeks ago about the saga surrounding Brian Townsend and his multi-accounting ways, where someone wrote that variance had caught up with him, and he didn't know how to handle it.
Yes, variance is acceptable when used as an excuse for 'running' bad. But sometimes I don't think variance is a part of it - sometimes there are just people playing at your table for no other reason than they have money and want to use it, whether it be winning more or losing what they have - as a saw yesterday.

Example 1:
Loose aggressive player straddles UTG. Fair enough, build the pot. He straddles ofr $20 and manages to get six callers. Wow. This looks like one hell of a pot. Player from the big blind pushes all in for $120. Not bad play I feel, there is enough in the pot and if he has a strong hand, it's possible at worst he is in a coinflip situation.
Fold, fold, fold, fold, call. The straddle makes the call. Dealer: "Flip your cards if you wish."
I nearly vomitted with what I saw. After all, I had layed down .
UTG:
BB:
And what happens next? Runner runner flush of course, and UTG wins.

Example 2:
I was holding on a board reading .
I bet out $15 and get called by one player.
Turn:
I bet $25, just in case he has a 5, in what could have been disguised as a value bet. Called again.
River:
I thought that would be a mostly irrelevant card.
Figuring there was enough in the pot, I check.
Astonishingly, my opponent bets out $100. I didn't even think about it, and layed down my hand. However, I cursed when my opponent flipped over .
Yes I got bluffed out, big deal. But the fact that my opponent had been calling me the whole way with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING infuriated me. I was beginning to wonder how bad this day could get...

Example 3:
'The Straddler' decided to straddle for his entire stack - $110. Sitting two to my left, I had hoped nobody would call, as I peeked down at my hole cards to find . Thankfully, nobody called and I shoved me stack in.
He was holding .
Wait for it.....

Wait for it.....

No bad beat here thankfully, my queens managed to hold up. But again, I was horrified at this play!

Example 4:
I catch a nice hand as I looked down at , raised pre-flop to $15, got a caller and the flop came out a friendly . I bet out for $25 and get called. I put him on an ace, but I have the kicker I need.
Turn:
Perfect card, I bet out for $30 hoping to keep him in the hand. At this stage I put myself in his shoes and think to myself, what does it look like I have? Obviously if I had a 3 I'd be check-raising. He calls.
River: .
No problem there. He checks, I bet out $50 and he flat calls. I flip my cards. He takes his time and keeps his cards face down, and I am about to reach in and grab the pot of chips when he flips of . What a dog, not only did he call a pre-flop raise with a terrible hand, he slow-rolled me. If there's one thing I hate more than bad play, it's bad table etiquette. I asked him his reason for playing that hand:

"I just lost $10,000 on baccarat, I need to win some back."

Right, that's fair. SO WHY THE HELL ARE YOU PLAYING ON THE LOWEST BUY-IN TABLE YOU IDIOT!?

My friend on the other side of the table had to deal with this fellow before too:

Example 5:
My friend limps in from the small blind with (ever since watching Hinkle win the bracelet with that hand I seem to look at it as much more than rags!).
Flop: .
On tilt, my friend pushes all in for $80, and the gentleman who would later take my money calls.
Turn:
I curse as I had been holding and folded pre-flop.
River:
My friend turns over his cards... and the gentleman shows his..................
Breathtaking stuff! His stack had moved from almost nothing to close to $1000.

My final hand summed up the day, but was perhaps less of a bad beat as it was bad luck.

Example 6:
On the button I hold .
Flop:
Not too bad, I've got top pair, it gets checked around to me and I bet $20 and try and take it down.
Get called by two players, including Mr Bacarat.
Turn:
So if someone was chasing a straight they have probably hit. It gets checked around, I look down at my stack which has fallen to about $65... and I check.
River:
I guess that's not the worst card to come out.
It gets checked to me again, and I bet $30. A fold, and Mr Bacarat raises it to $60. I push in my last few bucks and flip over my King. What do you know, Mr Bacarat flips and his kicker plays.

On the way home I thought about this hand and how it was played terribly by everyone involved. I'd hit top pair on the button. Bacarat at hit top pair with a very strong kicker and had checked. Surely the book would tell you to bet out, three-handed with two straight draws.
On the turn, if I shove, perhaps he folds as I represent a straight.
On the river, perhaps I should have checked given these ideas:
1. If he has a straight, I'm gone
2. If he has a strong king, I'm gone
3. If he was slow-playing a set of 10s, 9s or something... I'm gone. So really the only thing I could have beaten was a bluff or a weak pair. In which case, I could have saved myself about $80 or so.

I smiled, walked away from the table and wished everyone there good luck.
Lord knows they'll need it.

At least in the long run.

Some players at the table berated the kid who bluffed me, and then later alleged to have bluffed me again as I layed down Queens and Fours on a board of . He bet $100 on the river again after some small bets on the flop and turn. I explained to someone that I thought he had set me up with the previous bluff before, wanting me to call him this time and that he'd hit his flush. He replied that the kid was certainly not good enough to make that play. I guess I'll never know.

I certainly didn't play as well as I did last week, but I think I made some good reads on my opponents and just got unlucky a few times.

However I've decided that I'm going to take a hiatus from the game as I need to focus my mind towards study and work.

No more online or live casino games. Potentially the odd home game, but I'm calming down for a little, at least until the end of November when my exams are done.

'Poker is a lot like sex, everyone thinks they are the best, but most don't have a clue what they are doing!" - Dutch Boyd