Trifecta Attempt

My last couple sessions have been a bit rough due to some suck-outs but despite the results I'm still playing well and posting a healthy winrate for the month. Hopefully the cards start falling the way they're supposed to and I'm not forced to start posting bad beat stories.

In the meantime here are a few hands from last night's session, including a trifecta attempt:

Hand 1: 50NL
Seat #5 is the dealer
Seat 5 - LINKO666 ($183.73 in chips)
Seat 6 - BOUT2HOSEYOU ($19 in chips)
Seat 1 - USMC_AUGE ($49.50 in chips)
Seat 2 - Hero ($101.10 in chips)
Seat 3 - DAVIDLAPPIN ($149.90 in chips)
Seat 4 - SVALBARD1000 ($16.35 in chips)
BOUT2HOSEYOU - Posts small blind $0.25
USMC_AUGE - Posts big blind $0.50
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [ ]
Hero - Raises $2 to $2 -- utg
DAVIDLAPPIN - Folds
SVALBARD1000 - Folds
LINKO666 - Folds
BOUT2HOSEYOU - Folds
USMC_AUGE - Calls $1.50 -- bb, aggro donk who I saw spew off a stack on a complete bluff in a terrible spot

Flop:
[ ]
USMC_AUGE - Checks
Hero - Bets $3
USMC_AUGE - Raises $6 to $6 -- donk min cr
Hero - Calls $3 -- pretty confident I'm still ahead but no need to commit just yet

Turn:
[ ] [ ]
USMC_AUGE - Checks -- min cr and then a check.. doesn't make much sense unless he filled up
Hero - Bets $11 -- i'll take another stab
USMC_AUGE - Raises $22 to $22 -- another min cr.. this line is just too weird for him to have a boat here, and a straight should definitely bet out with the spades on board
Hero - Raises $71.25 to $82.25 -- given the aggro donk read and the weird line i will shove here to prevent a more difficult river decision were i just to call
USMC_AUGE - Folds
Hero - returned ($60.25) : not called

Another possibility was a higher overpair but again the line taken is just very strange.

Hand 2: 25NL
Seat #4 is the dealer
Seat 4 - TAT2EDFOOTBA ($20.11 in chips)
Seat 5 - SAPLAYER ($15.30 in chips)
Seat 6 - Hero ($50.35 in chips)
Seat 1 - JOHNFVW ($43.48 in chips)
Seat 2 - GRELLBOX ($50 in chips)
Seat 3 - BUFFALO18 ($15.91 in chips)
SAPLAYER - Posts small blind $0.10
Hero - Posts big blind $0.25
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [ ]
JOHNFVW - Calls $0.25
GRELLBOX - Calls $0.25 -- tag numbers, limp is weird
BUFFALO18 - Folds
TAT2EDFOOTBA - Folds
SAPLAYER - Folds
Hero - Raises $1.10 to $1.35 -- bb
JOHNFVW - Calls $1.10
GRELLBOX - Calls $1.10

Flop:
[ ]
Hero - Bets $3.25
JOHNFVW - Folds
GRELLBOX - Calls $3.25 -- standard float with overs or draw

Turn:
[ ] [ ]
Hero - Bets $7.75 -- keep firing with overpair, 3/4 pot roughly
GRELLBOX - Raises $18.75 to $18.75 -- this guy does not limp with 77, 88, or a bigger overpair
Hero - All-In(Raise) $38 to $45.75 -- shove it
GRELLBOX - All-In $26.65
Hero - returned ($0.35) : not called

River:
[ ] [ ]

Showdown:
GRELLBOX - Shows [ ] (Flush, ten high) -- great play, except not at all.
Hero - Shows [ ] (Two Pair, nines and threes)
GRELLBOX Collects $98.45 from main pot

Hand 3: 25NL
Seat #1 is the dealer
Seat 1 - ROOKIECARD ($53.79 in chips)
Seat 2 - SC1733 ($47.40 in chips)
Seat 3 - RODMASTER ($9.30 in chips)
Seat 4 - DOOMSWING ($28.57 in chips)
Seat 5 - Hero ($50 in chips)
SC1733 - Posts small blind $0.10
RODMASTER - Posts big blind $0.25
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [ ]
DOOMSWING - Folds
Hero - Raises $1 to $1 -- mp
ROOKIECARD - Calls $1 -- button
SC1733 - Folds
RODMASTER - Folds

Flop:
[ ]
Hero - Checks -- going for the trifecta
ROOKIECARD - Bets $1.17
Hero - Raises $2.34 to $2.34
ROOKIECARD - Calls $1.17 -- step 1 complete

Turn:
[ ] [ ]
Hero - Checks
ROOKIECARD - Bets $3.51
Hero - Raises $7.02 to $7.02
ROOKIECARD - Calls $3.51 -- step 2 complete

River:
[ ] [ ]
Hero - Checks
ROOKIECARD - Checks -- oooooouchhhh

Showdown:
Hero - Shows [ ] (Two Pair, aces and jacks)
ROOKIECARD - Mucks
Hero Collects $20.02 from main pot

Devastating loss of value, but a triple check raise would have been oh-so-sweet.

Good and Bad

Here are a couple hands from last night's session. The first hand I play horridly, the second beautifully.

Hand 1: 100NL
Seat #2 is the dealer
Seat 2 - GELLI ($48.05 in chips)
Seat 3 - Hero ($122.95 in chips)
Seat 4 - BURGHPLAYER ($19.80 in chips)
Seat 5 - SULCATA ($196.60 in chips) -- solid TAG
Seat 6 - MATHP ($259.02 in chips)
Seat 1 - BONES1135 ($168.80 in chips)
Hero - Posts small blind $0.50
BURGHPLAYER - Posts big blind $1
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [ ]
SULCATA - Raises $3.50 to $3.50 -- utg, pretty tight range
MATHP - Folds
BONES1135 - Folds
GELLI - Folds
Hero - Calls $3 -- I'm still torn about this call given that his utg raising range is pretty tight. Yet I am in the sb and will be oop the rest of the hand. I should probably be 3-betting here and folding to a 4-bet.
BURGHPLAYER - Calls $2.50 -- bb comes along

Flop:
[ ]

Hero - Checks -- obviously a very good flop for me but I check expecting to see a cbet
BURGHPLAYER - Checks
SULCATA - Bets $8
Hero - Calls $8 -- I just call. I don't want to cr here as a bet/3bet line from this villain utg would pretty much force me to fold tptk. However, if he slows down on the turn I can be reasonably sure that I'm ahead allowing me to extract some value from the hand
BURGHPLAYER - Folds

Turn:
[ ] [ ]
Hero - Bets $16 -- this bet is where I screw things up. I bet $16 into ~$26 which makes no sense in villain's eyes and he can easily turn whatever he might have into a bluff to push me off. Given that his utg range often has the goods here I can't really fight back
SULCATA - Raises $40.25 to $40.25 -- he puts in a good size raise which really gives me no more information
Hero - Calls $24.25 -- I make a donkey call with no plan for the river

River:
[ ] [ ]
Hero - Checks -- I'm a fish
SULCATA - Bets $75 -- nh sir
Hero - Folds -- kill me now
SULCATA - returned ($75) : not called

Showdown:
SULCATA - Does not show
SULCATA Collects $103.50 from main pot

My best line would be to either 3bet pre and play it aggressively from there on out. Or if I decide to flat as I did here, then c/c the flop, and check/fold or c/r the turn. The turn decision, given a similar villain utg, will likely depend on his turn bet size.

Hand 2: 25NL
Seat #5 is the dealer
Seat 5 - 1R0NEAGLE ($32.30 in chips) -- regular tag, likes to float
Seat 6 - JOHNFVW ($41.40 in chips)
Seat 1 - SKITZZ88 ($50 in chips)
Seat 2 - TALLENT00 ($35.76 in chips)
Seat 3 - Hero ($58.09 in chips)
Seat 4 - FOXY1020 ($10 in chips)
JOHNFVW - Posts small blind $0.10
SKITZZ88 - Posts big blind $0.25
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [ ]
TALLENT00 - Folds
Hero - Raises $1 to $1 -- this is my third or fourth consecutive raise in the last few hands
FOXY1020 - Folds
1R0NEAGLE - Raises $3.50 to $3.50 -- He's very capable of raising me light given that I've been raising so much
JOHNFVW - Folds
SKITZZ88 - Folds
Hero - Calls $2.50 -- I suspect a light 3-bet so I want to see a flop

Flop:
[ ]
Hero - Checks -- great flop for me with tptk
1R0NEAGLE - Bets $6.50 -- big cbet
Hero - Calls $6.50 -- just call for pot control

Turn:
[ ] [ ]
Hero - Checks -- good turn; oesd got there but I don't put him on that very often here
1R0NEAGLE - All-In $22.30 -- he slightly overshoves which I've never seen him do and we've played a lot of hands together.. more importantly his regular 3-betting range has completely whiffed this board with the exception of premium pairs which is not the biggest part of his 3-betting range given my read on that he is 3-betting me light. So there are not many hands that reasonably beat me outside of JT, sets, 97 or Q9. I think hands like AK, AQ, AJ, AT, A9 KQ, KJ, QJ actually make up a good part of his lighter 3-betting range.
Hero - Calls $22.30 -- after some thought i stick to my read and make the call

River:
[ ] [ ] -- nasty river

Showdown:
Hero - Shows [ ] (One pair, jacks)
1R0NEAGLE - Shows [ ] (king high) -- but tptk is good
Hero Collects $61.95 from main pot