I haven't read every post in here (yet..6 pages), but I'm going to say what I know I want to say to answer the OP's question.
MONEY.
Everybody ain't big ballin'. Gotta take more chances with a budget in mind. Luckily for me, I have pretty good BP spidey senses. I manage to avoid the worst of the worst. Granted, every BP session isn't all world wonderful, but I usually do OK.
I guess I'm a cheap bastard. I just don't make the money that other dudes make. Gotta hobby within my means, I suppose.
Now that I've said what I was thinking, I'm going to go ahead and read what everyone else said.
On a side note, Tiffany, I'm very sorry that I didn't see you when I was close enough to do so recently. Man, I'm so pissed with myself. Furious! If I could step outside of my body and kick my own ass for this, I would do it.