Thursday and Friday were uneventful. I gave up my $0.25/0.50 experiment for the time being while boosted my bankroll up to $960+. A couple of unlucky Sit-N-Gos dropped it down $13.

A Sunday morning session was profitable. I finally cracked the $1k mark. It was a horrendous start but I came back strong as I caught some nice hands and got paid off.

Interesting hands from Thursday.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?700998
I made most of my money with sets these 2 days. This is a set with TT against AA for ~>half a buy-in.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?701032
Another set. This time I called 2 raises preflop with 44. It turned out to be a good call as I ended up getting full value vs. KK.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?701038
Loose preflop call from SB worked out well. Trips in raised pots are so valuable. Questionable moves by opponents didn't hurt, either.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?701062
Another set, this time with 66. The board grew scary in a hurry, but I called the huge bluff anyways. 1) He cold-called 2 raises on the flop, usually a sign of drawing. 2) With a 7 in his hand opponent might have raised turn.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?701081
A successful straight draw, and my hand was paid off by trips.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?701089
Certainly not a hand that make myself proud. I couldn't lay down TPTK + gutshot vs. a flopped straight.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?701095
Nice looking flop, extra outs on turn, semibluffed twice, couldn't hit at the end. Doesn't matter. My 3rd bullet was successful in driving away my opponent, who raised preflop but showed weakness thereafter.

Hands from Friday:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?701760
It was another miserable start to Friday. Until this hand. Raised and called a reraise with 99 against a respectable opponent. Flopped a set, opponent bet and 3-bet all-in. Did he have KK and I have an underset? No. Turns out he only had AK. Whew.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?701762
A check-raise semibluff all-in with a straight draw. Got called by QQ. Luckily I hit on the river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?701763
Calling a preflop raise with T9s and flopping a straight. How good is my monster-stacked opponent? Apparently not good enough to lay down KK on that board against my betting.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?701764
Everything turned out great with this KK hand......until the river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?701766
Another KK hand that went wrong. This time I couldn't get away with it. I swear I'll never play pot limit again otherwise we would be all-in much sooner.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?701767
A horribly-played AA hand. I don't know what I was scared off......trip 2s maybe? I don't know why I didn't bet much harder, especially on the turn. The extra $5 should go into the pot on the turn not the river when I was already outdrawn.

Some Sunday hands:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?704940
My biggest pot ever in terms of BBs. A big stacked opponent fully paid off my set. Wow!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?704941
Catching my straight on the river. My river shove probably looked like a bluff to my opponent.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?704942
A set with 99, destacking an opponent with TP weak kicker.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?704944
2nd hand at the table. AA vs. KK preflop all-in.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?704946
Destacking a donk who got involved with middle pair. I am willing to tangle with TPTK + gutshot royal flush draw most of the time.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?704947
I can't do anything right with pair+draw situations. What was I thinking on the river?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?704948
AQ, flopped TPTK. Looked good for a while, but my flop bet was called by two people. The King on the turn seemed ugly, but it was actually a blessing in disguise. It let me get away easily from the hand. Not only is it an overcard, it also completed a straight with JT, which was what I was concerned about the most. Turns out one opponent had me soundly beaten with a set--the same opponent who later paid of my set of 2s with his TT overpair.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?704950
I can't win anything with Aces when they are spade-heart. Another example here.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?704951
Another hand that won't make me proud. Please tell me what I was thinking.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?704971
KK on a sub-optimal flop. The betting was already raised before it was my turn to act. I wasn't concerned about the original bettor who was a weak player, but I was certainly worried about the raise, which was made by a reasonable opponent. As a result I decided to get away, which proved to be a wise decision.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?705730
Flopped house with 33. I played this vulnerable hand aggressively and milked some money from a weak opponent who limped UTG with Q7 and flopped trip 7s which were unimproved.

In conclusion, despite hands like 704947 and 704951 I still managed to finish at $1070+.

A Monday morning session also ended well. I added another ~$50 to my bankroll which now sits at $1124. Not many memorable hands though. Here they are, just 3 of them:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?706278
Flopped set with 44. Opponent was an absolute mouse and I was surprised he check-raised me. I can't believe he actually got interested in betting so I pushed all-in. Brutal river. ~puke~

http://www.pokerhand.org/?706281
Raising preflop with 77. Turn gave me a set but also brought 3 hearts to the table. Fortunately for me opponent just called. Opponent's calls didn't smell right. I was ready to check behind or call a reasonable bet on the river if my set didn't improve. But the last card was sweet--it completed running quads for me, allowing me to destacking my opponent.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?706285
Bluffing a weak opponent with a busted straight draw, and the "Antinuts".