Poker Monday

Well, after a two week break, I had the urge to play a little. So I went to the local sports bar for their weekly $40 tournament.

After about 30 minutes, I was out. I went all in with KK and got called by 10-10, and the cards came out Q-9-5-8-J - giving the other guy a straight. That was that.

So I started a cash game, 1/2 NL. I bought in for $100. I managed to leave the table with $620, for a profit of $480.

I played pretty loose, calling $12 to $20 raises with so-so hands, but I played really well after the flop.

Here's an example. A good, but cocky player raises to $12 in early position, telling us he has pocket queens, and showing one. The button calls, and I call from the BB with :4c :6c.
He keeps talking and says he's going all-in if no A or K hits the flop.
Flop comes :8c :8d :4d. I check, he bets $60 (leaving himself about $80 behind). The dealer folds. My read is that he's holding AQ, and he's trying to buy the pot. So I raise it another $100, putting him all-in. He looks at me in pain... and eventually folds.

I did lose a few big pots too... here are two that stand out.

First off, I raised in late position with a bad hand, but I wanted to shake things up.
I have :2c :5c, and make it $12 to go. The dealer, SB and BB all call.
Flop comes :2d :Jc :7c.
The SB goes all-in for $50, BB folds, I call. The dealer goes all-in for another $58. Now I have to call that, figuring I have 13 outs for my flush or two pair or trips...
SB shows :Ah :Jd, Dealer :Kh :Js. I didn't hit any of my outs, so I lost $120 on that one.

The other big one was similar. I called a $15 raise with :Qs :7s because there were already 3 players in, and I was last to talk pre-flop, being on the BB.
Flop came out :Js :7d :9s.
I bet out $50... fold, fold - then the dealer goes all-in for $110, so I call again.
He shows :Ks :6s. So he has a better flush draw, but I'm holding a pair.
Turn :2d, River :Kd - suckout.

With about 15 minutes left, I got QQ. I raised it to $17. The guy next to me calls, the dealer re-raises $40 more. I look and he has $90 left, so I push him all-in, the other guy calls his last $45, and the dealer calls for all his chips. Dealer has AK and other guy JJ - my hand held up and I took down a big pot.

It felt good to get back on the winning side - now if I could only get some luck during the tournament.