A TALE OF TWO BEATS

I played the cash games today in two sessions. I did my usual damage before lunch, coming away with $525 in profit at the $2/4 NL game. After lunch, I tried to squeeze in an additional hour and it was not so kind, costing me $410. There were two standout beats:

OUCH #1:
I had K-Q; there was a raise before me - I have learned to simply muck this hand in a full-table tournament situation, but this was a short-handed cash game so I'm calling here. We took a flop three-way and the third guy lead out with a bet into the K-Q-9 board. The pre-flop raiser became a post-flop raiser and I pushed in the remainder of my stack. Third wheel folded but the raising guy showed 9-9 and it held up. This is not really a bad beat, just a classic cooler. I was actually happy that it only cost me around $115 since I had been losing already. I cursed my luck and bought back in for another $250, which I managed to build up past $500 when this ugliness occurred:

OUCH #2:
I had Kd-Jd in the blind against a raise from a player with whom I didn't mind tangling. The flop came J-8-5 rainbow and I check-raised his continuation bet. He called and we saw a 7 come on the turn. I didn't think he had T-9 but I didn't mind if he thought I did so I bet out a good amount. I figured there's a chance he could have an overpair, but I was fairly confident I had the best hand. If he raises here, I wouldn't like it, but if he calls, I've got to put him on J-T or J-9 or maybe even a weakly played Q-J. Sure, I know he could have a set, but there could also be a monster in my closet - I can't play every hand like the other guy's sitting on trips. My gut told me that I was ahead and I was willing to back it up with my entire stack if necessary. So he called and a 6 came on the river. Hmm, worst card in the deck. I still thought he was going to show me J-T so I was willing to get money in, but since this might also be a scare card for him to use against me, I decided to check with the intention of insta-calling any bet, which I knew he would be firing. He pushed all in and even though it was a much bigger bet than expected, I still called it with my top pair. If he had shown T-9, I would have cursed my luck but respected his play, but he shows 4-4 and immediately leaves the table with his ill-gotten gains.

That beat is tough to beat. A rational person folds to my check-raise on the flop. Okay, so he didn't believe me, maybe I was betting a draw - well the 7 came on the turn to make my draw. What does he beat at this point with me betting strongly into him? He must be awfully sure I've got air because he's got fifth pair. I guess he figures the best odds against me he can hope for is over-paying for a gutshot draw to the dumb end of a straight. Sometimes that horse comes in and this time it cost me $415.