Some hands

Haven't posted any hands in a while, so here are 3. They're large pot hands, catching up on some August backlog.

Hand 1: Villain is 39/26/2.2.
Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.10/$0.25 Blinds - 6 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com http://www.legopoker.com/hh)

Hero (SB): $25.00
BB: $25.00
UTG: $4.55
MP: $34.10
CO: $43.90
BTN: $46.55

Preflop: Hero is dealt Kc Kh (6 Players)
2 folds, CO raises to $0.85, BTN folds, Hero raises to $2.80, BB folds, CO calls $1.95

Flop: ($5.85) 4s Jd 9c (2 Players)
Hero bets $4.05, CO raises to $8.10, Hero calls $4.05

Turn: ($22.05) 4s Jd 9c Ad (2 Players)
Hero bets $10.55, CO raises all-in to $33.00, Hero calls all-in for $3.55
Uncalled bet of $18.90 returned to CO

Don't like the turn play much. If I'm calling the flop, it's to CRAI on the turn, and betting the ace isn't the way, and that bet size is terrible since I have so little behind. Plus, once that ace comes out, I need to play for a smaller pot, not a larger one. I think it's fine to continue with the hand, since he's not likely raising with just an ace on the flop -- of course he could have AJ. But most of the time when stacks go in here, I'm in bad shape, I think, so my plan to CRAI should probably be to check/call, and lead the river if he checks behind the turn.

River: ($50.25) 4s Jd 9c Ad 9d (2 Players - 2 All-In)

Pot Size: $50.25 ($2.50 Rake)

Results:
CO had 9s 8s (three of a kind, Nines) and WON (+$22.75)
Hero had Kc Kh (two pair, Kings and Nines) and LOST (-$25.00)
LOL....he played the hand worse than I did, but he got there :(.

Hand 2: Villain is 42/14/1.8.
Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.10/$0.25 Blinds - 5 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com http://www.legopoker.com/hh)

Hero (SB): $25.00
BB: $21.95
UTG: $14.20
CO: $15.60
BTN: $24.50

Preflop: Hero is dealt 8c Jc (5 Players)
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.90, BB calls $0.65

A note on the raise size...I use a program called Full Tilt Shortcuts to automate bets, and it shorts the preflop raise size by the amount of the SB when you are actually in the SB, and sometimes I forget to increment it by that SB. Don't think it really matters, since it's still a little more than a pot-sized raise.

Flop: ($1.80) 9c 7c Jd (2 Players)
Hero bets $1.80, BB calls $1.80

Turn: ($5.40) 9c 7c Jd 3s (2 Players)
Hero bets $4.05, BB raises to $15.75, Hero raises all-in to $22.30, BB calls all-in for $3.50
Uncalled bet of $3.05 returned to Hero

If he (effectively) pushed on the flop, I would have called instantly, and I still think that this call is OK, but I'm not nearly as sure. It still seems like it is a semibluff a lot of times here, and if I'm behind, I would have a ton of outs. Plus, it's a blind battle, so I would need to call lighter than normal. OK?

River: ($43.90) 9c 7c Jd 3s Ah (2 Players - 2 All-In)

Pot Size: $43.90 ($2.15 Rake)

Results:
BB had 7d 9s (two pair, Nines and Sevens) and WON (+$19.80)
Hero had 8c Jc (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-$21.95)


Hand 3: Villain is 43/0, so I'm pretty comfortable isolating him with a weak suited ace.
Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.10/$0.25 Blinds - 6 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com http://www.legopoker.com/hh)

SB: $9.75
BB: $10.65
UTG: $21.25
MP: $16.35
CO: $25.50
Hero (BTN): $35.55

Preflop: Hero is dealt Ac 6c (6 Players)
UTG folds, MP calls $0.25, CO folds, Hero raises to $1.25, 2 folds, MP calls $1.00

Flop: ($2.85) 3h 5c 4h (2 Players)
MP checks, Hero bets $3.45, MP calls $3.45

Normally, my c-bets are from 75% to 100% of the pot, but sometimes, I will overbet the pot with both made and drawing hands.

Turn: ($9.75) 3h 5c 4h 2s (2 Players)
MP checks, Hero bets $4.45, MP raises all-in to $11.65, Hero calls $7.20

Seems standard.

River: ($33.05) 3h 5c 4h 2s Jh (2 Players - 1 All-In)

Pot Size: $33.05 ($1.65 Rake)

Results:
MP had 8h 7h (a flush, Jack high) and WON (+$15.05)
Hero had Ac 6c (a straight, Six high) and LOST (-$16.35)

I'm going through my backlog of big hands in order, whether I won or lost, played it poorly or well, just to make sure I'm not biasing anything with my selection. If the money gets in preflop and I've got KK or AA, I don't think that I'll post it because win or lose, it's not going to be controversial, and if my worst problem is ever that I get it all in with KK, then I'll have a great career :).

If a lot of money goes in postflop, I want to post it, even if I think I got a bad beat or got coolered, I may be looking at it incorrectly. Dodgyken correctly says that he hates it when someone just says they're running badly. I think that one reason people say that so much (there are certainly others) is because they don't recognize that bad play on their parts in the big pots. They just chalk it up to bad luck, when they shouldn't.