EXPENSIVE NIGHT OUT

I tried to get to Hollywood Park last Saturday in time for the $550 tournament. I was late, so I sat at the cash game and lost twice that playing $5/10 NLHE. Here's the recap:

I bought in for $400 and didn't catch any cards for awhile. My stack was roughly $320 or so when I raced for it and lost. Most hands were limpfests and I joined a family pot with AQ from the cutoff. The big blind decided to raise to $60 and found one caller. The pot was sufficiently huge that I pushed all-in, hoping to take it down outright or race with the big blind. He chose to race with 88 and the third guy folded as expected. I didn't connect and I was down a full buy-in.
I rebought for $400 and continued to run card dead until I was down to under $200. I limped in with JT and created a family pot which was raised by the big blind. I was desperate and willing to gamble so I called his big raise and figured I would commit to the hand if I caught any piece of the flop. Lucky for me, it came J/rag/rag and he checked to me. I went all in for $110 or so and he made the crying call with pocket tens. Boy, did I get lucky there.

My luck took a short-term turn for the better and I got up over $900. When a new dealer sat down, he instantly dealt me a pair of aces which I used to scoop a big pot. I was UTG when they arrived and I limped to encourage action behind me. There were a rash of callers but no raisers which put me in the unenviable position of underdog against the field. The flop came AQ2 which turned me back into the runaway favorite. I bet out since I've got to build a pot somehow and prayed that the case ace was in play. I got one caller from the small blind.

He's either got the ace or a set or just maybe some sort of strong queen. In any case, there's not much chance I'm going to lose the hand so I checked behind him on the turn, which was a five. The river paired the deuce and all indications were that we were going to chop the pot with the queen kicker in play. He checked and I bet a whopping $200 so it would look like I was trying to buy the pot. He called instantly and conceded that he wouldn't have paid me off if the board hadn't paired.

A few hands later, I got aces again and limped in once more. I called a raise and wound up heads up again against a different player. He was fairly tight and didn't commit many chips. I called his continuation bet on the paired flop, then we both checked the river. I got the magic bullet on the river and put out a huge bet in case he was trapping me with trips but he folded and I won without showing.

So I was now up a small amount and I kind of wished I was watching the Eagles/Saints game more closely, so I considered calling it a night, but I just couldn't quit since I had driven all that way to get there - I needed to get my money's worth out of the evening. Very shortly, I spent my entire stack on a good hand that wasn't as good as my opponent's hand.

I normally don't play trash like K3, I would rather take money from the other guys who are doing so, but I got comped into a hand on the big blind and the flop came KQ3. I was so sure I had the best hand that I checked twice so that I could make my move on the turn. I called a bet from late position on the flop - the two paint cards were both diamonds and I was convinced that he was betting a draw from late position after everyone checked to him. The turn was a black deuce, the perfect card for me to lose more money. I checked again and he bet out $60. I came alive and raised to $200. I didn't mind a call in that spot actually. When he raised to $400, I didn't even take a moment to consider that he could actually have KQ - I was so convinced that he didn't that I eagerly went all-in. I looked so confidant that he was sure I had a set of threes as he pushed his chips in the middle. Not so, and I was busto once again.

I bought in for $400 for a third time and it was short lived. I was already down to $300 or so when a family pot came along. I held 88 and the small blind grabbed some raising chips but decided against it and simply called - the classic AQ move. The big blind made his move and bumped to $75. There was so much money in the pot and in his stack that I made the call, hoping he had AK and knowing that at least one ace was already in play. The guy behind me called and the AQ pushed $400 into the middle. The original raiser folded (admitting later to JJ) and it came to me. I needed to take down a big pot and I was pretty sure I was ahead in this spot. I pushed in my remaining chips and monologued: "I'm getting a nice discount so I'll race with you."

What I never imagined is that the guy behind me would call off his entire stack in this spot. He said he was gambling and boy was he. I knew I was in trouble and prayed for low cards. I got my wish with the 752 flop. We didn't flip the cards since it was a cash game but I could feel that I was ahead and I very much wanted to take down that pot and erase my losses on the night. The turn was a 6 and I liked it very much. In the off chance that Joe Schmo behind me had a low pair and caught trips, I can still suck out with a 4, 8 or 9 on the river. The river was a 9 and I couldn't have been more pleased to see it. Schmo started jumping for joy and flipped over KTs and only then did I realize that I was ahead the whole way until the spade flush arrived on the river.

It was an ugly end to an ugly session. I lost $1200 but I wasn't steaming too badly on the drive home because I thought I played very well overall. If I could have one play back, of course, it would be the all-in reraise against the bigger two pair. I should have been able to get off the hand without shoving it all in, though I'm not terribly upset with how I played it up to then, since I just got massively cold-decked by hitting top/bottom as someone else hit top two. The other two huge pots I lost were both races that went south.