Weaker Tournaments: Are they Worth it?

Well I am 1900 uscf and I am wondering if its worth playing in tournaments where there are a lot of lower rated players like 1600 and below and only a few higher rated players (1900-2200).  Or should I simply stick with playing in tournaments where everyone is atleast 1800 or above.  I could potentially win prizes in the weaker tournament, but also get upset and lose lots of rating.  

The reason I am asking this question is because Pan-ams are coming up at Princeton this year and I was thinking maybe I should play a warm up tournament, but I couldn't find a strong tournament.  

Please post your thought.

Regards, Bigyugi9

It depends on your preference of course, but if you think you are not going to have fun then don't join those tournaments with far lower ratings than your's. Unless if you really need the prizes for financial, etc. issues. Just imagine Kobe Bryant playing against a highschool student in a three-point shoot out, what would he feel and what would others think? 

I say still compete in the lower rated tournaments. Yeah you may lose some points, but overall for the chess in your area, it will be better. A lot of tournaments suffer from high rated players not coming out due to exactly that: They fear losing points to lower rated players and the lack of stronger opposition. It is Group Think at it's worst for chess. Keep going to give those weakers players the opportunity to play someone stronger, because then they will get stronger, making you stronger, making everyone stronger and improving chess overall in your area.