Sunday night was a wash. I won some, lost some, got involved in 2 big pots as the favorite against the same big stack and lost one of them (see below). The end result was -$10. What a waste of 2+ hours

Monday evening was very eventful. I played very loose most of the session and was bobbling between -50 and even. That was until near the end when I went on a tear and boosted my roll up to $1540. Many big pots on this night.

Sunday night hands. Long analyses:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?776622
Bittensnake has not been out of line at this table, and this is my 1st big clash against him. I flopped a gutshot and was facing a bet from him. Raised pot, the bet was fairly small compared to the pot size, my gutshot would be nuts, no one would expect this from me, I had a backdoor FD, stacks were deep, preflop raiser who was a loose caller was still in the hand -- all these factors meant implied odds were there. I decided to chase -- I called.

So I turned my miracle 6, and I have the nuts now. Hooray. Bittensnake led out for another fair amount. I put in quite a raise, and he 3-bet. A preflop-raise-caller going ape-shit postflop -- obviously he had a set. I was so excited that I pushed for his remaining $7.65. He called. Disastrous river -- He boated up.

Now I got all-in with the best hand -- a 80% favourite -- with him drawing to 9 outs (7h gives me straight flush). Is it good enough? No! In retrospect, the best play on the turn was just to call the 3-bet. Can I put him on what he had? Yes, he had a set. Does he know I have a straight? Probably not.Will a 4 or 5 on the river stop him from putting in the rest of his stack? Probably not, since the pot is so large. So why didn't I see the river, make sure I'm winning 100% before committing for the last $7.65, which is nothing compared to the amount already in the pot, but is still a fair amount of money?

In conclusion, I got sucked out, but at the same time, I lost my composure on the turn and failed to make the best play. It cost me an extra $7.65, which isn't much, but this little difference might just be what distinguishes the great players from the good players.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?776621
This is the second big clash between me and Bittensnake. I don't raise small PP preflop very often, but here I did it probably because I was on mild tilt and dearly wanted to recover my loss from the previous hand. I flopped a set of 2s, while Bittensnake has hit the flop pretty hard himself -- TP plus gutshot SFD. If I had AK he would actually be on the good side of a coin-flip (14 outs) against me. But I had a set instead, we got all-in with me being a 60-40 favourite, and he didn't improve regardless.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?776623
Suited aces have been a weakness in my play -- I overplayed them too much especially preflop and out of position -- but fortunately things worked out here. Early on at the table, I completed in SB with A2s and then called a 4x raise from BB. I flopped a FD, pot odds were almost there, I called. I turned the flush and went for a check-raise. Surprisingly both opponent called. River was blank, and I extracted another bet from BB on the river. I later discovered that bluffingboy was a really passive player. Nice way to protect a set -- a feeble half-pot bet on a draw-heavy board on the flop ~rolleyes~. And how about LP shortie who slow-played his bigger set.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?776625
My aces always get cracked when they are spade-heart. Yet another example. An opponent called my preflop raise and then flopped a full-house on me. I minimized damage by checking ahead on turn and river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?776628
Flopped set on an all-spades and straighty board. I really didn't know how to play this -- I raised flop and then bet half-pot on turn -- denying flush draws odds, only to get called twice. Was opponent on a draw, or did he already have it? Turn and river were blanks, and I bet out minimum on the river just to see whether I can get a call from a busted draw. I did get the call, and it was from a flopped baby flush. Lucky me -- losing so little in such a difficult situation. Opponent definitely wasn't thinking enough and was clearly afraid of a bigger flush. Wouldn't I bet out harder on the river if I had a bigger (or nut) flush?

Monday evening hands.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?778728
This opponent must have thought I was full of crap and was trying to steal his blind, and he tried to bluff me off the hand with AJ unimproved. I had TPTK until the river when a King hit, but what the heck, I called his bluff and collected a nice pot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?778730
AA, 1st at the table, preflop value shove, called by JJ. Opponent hit a 4-flush with his Jc. Fortunately it wasn't for a full buy-in. AhAd hasn't been holding up for me lately.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?779064
This is a hand which might lead people to think I was a donkey, but on the other hand I think I knew what I'm doing. Maybe I'm a thinking donkey. Anyways, I completed with T3s in SB and called BB's 6x-raise after everyone else folded. I flopped top-pair, and check-called BB's pot-sized bet, just to see whether he'll give up an unimproved AK on the turn. Turn was excellent -- 9s, which brought me flush draw outs, and I checked to BB who threw in a huge bet again -- $10, almost pot size. Now it's quite obvious he had a big overpair, but he had a lot of money behind, and with 14 outs I had almost the correct pot odds to call, plus I had implied odds for many of the outs -- I'm guessing he'll pay off 11 of them -- my backdoor flush or 2-pairs, maybe not trip 10s or the Ace of spades if he was holding KK or QQ. I rivered a 3 for 2 pairs -- perfect card that allow me to take the rest of his stack. Sweeeeeeeet pot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?779066
I really wasn't thinking at all during this hand. I wanted them to call, so I didn't shove but yet I still overbet by a huge amount. But it worked out just fine, as EP called the massive reraise with KQs and then shoved the rest when he hit his K. I was outdrawn on the turn, but regained the lead when the river counterfeited his KQ 2 pairs. Justice prevailed. I doubt EP will call all-in preflop for a full buy-in with KQs.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?779067
I didn't know that opponent was a donk -- until this hand. I flopped a set of 4s, and he called my 3-bet with middle pair no kicker. He turned 2-pairs by pairing his 2, and this improvement was enough for him to stack off.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?779140
Another hand which I portrayed myself as a thinking donkey. Loose call preflop and a 3-bet shove after flopping bottom pair + flush draw. I was quite depressed when PF raiser called all-in very quickly -- he obviously wasn't afraid of a bigger overpair, 2-pairs, sets or straight, in other words he wasn't afraid of anything. But for a change I hit my combo-draw in a massive all-in pot, as I runner-runnered not just one but two Kings to piss off my opponent. Next time I run into him I'll try to beat him with some real hand.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?779168
AA vs KK preflop all-in. Opponent thought for a long hard while, but she finally decided to call. I'm glad she did that, and my Aces held up for a nice $50+ pot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?779243
This opponent was on 2 of my tables, and he has been thinking that I was full of crap for reasons that I didn't know. He has been targetting me throughout the sessions, but I got the better of him here when I barely outkicked him with a 9 against his 7. I thought about laying it down because of my bad kicker, but at the end I decided to suck it up against someone who gave me no credit, stuck with my hand and prevailed.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?779251
Sweet river card for me, tough spot for my opponent, a knowledgable player who reads flopturnriver.com. Should he call for a split or should he fold? My raise on the turn probably doomed him, coz he might otherwise expect me to slow-play a turned straight.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?779257
Set over set. Rivering quads was simply overkill.