RETURN OF THE BAD BEAT

I had such good luck yesterday, I was chomping at the bit to get started today. I entered a $100 MTT at Stars and got to work at 8A. The first hand I played was JT on the button in the face of a raise and a call. The flop came JKJ and the original raiser had AK. I got some money in the pot on the flop since my large bet could easily have been a steal attempt from the button. When I got two calls, I checked the turn, just to ensure that anybody with a king would stick around for my river bet. I didn't need to bet. The AK made a hefty bet into me, figuring me for a weaker king, so I just called and took it down.

I used this money to take a few chances, but suceeded only in whittling myself back down to my starting stack. My hand of the day came when I raised from second position with 87d. I got one caller, who had KTs. The flop came 6K6 and I lead out with a continuation bet, since that was a good flop for the early position raising type. He called, indicating a king or middle pair. The turn was a 9 which gave me an open-ended straight draw. I wanted to see the river, so I bet out again to keep myself from getting blasted out of the hand with a big bet from him. I was also hoping he would release a middle pair at this point, which he didn't. The river was a 5 and my runner-runner straight was reality. I had $1275 left and bet $1000, an odd amount that he could interpret as he wished. Maybe I'm just firing a third bullet but leaving myself some insurance in case he calls. He knew he was beat, cussed in the box a bit, then called. This gave me a nice stack approaching $6k right at the break.

I was protecting and slowly building my stack after the break. I was a bit over $6k when I raised in late-middle position with K8d. I was betting into a bunch of short stacks minus one player who had me covered. I got one caller and it was the big stack. I was out of position with a crummy hand, so I was done unless I flopped something nice. The flop came 6TT with two diamonds. This was a great flop. I can lead into it and even if he has me beat, chances are he will just call, giving me a shot at a diamond on the turn. He called and the deuce of diamonds arrived on cue. The pot was nice enough that I was ready to claim it. I bet 3/4 the size of the pot, so that he would either give it up or put it all in, drawing slim with trips. He inexplicably went all in with 99. He must have had me on a stone bluff or 88, because those are the only hands he is beating in that spot. Maybe he had convinced himself I had AK with a diamond. Anyways, I called and was astonished to see the nines. I was appreciative that all his chips were in the middle, because this $13k pot was going to make me the chip leader. I was not appreciative that he hit his four outer on the river.