December 1st cash game recap

I started out December 1st on DoylesRoom at just $62 shy of my ending goal for December. I was playing in a .25/.50 cash game and had bought in for $30. By the twenty-seventh hand my starting stack was down to $22 due to hands that would not hold up. Then I was dealt a pair of pocket 10′s. The UTG-1 player raised to 1.00, a minimum raise and three other players including myself called.

The small blind re-raised to $6.00. Everyone else folded except me. Because I was on the button and I really wanted to see the flop I called the large raise. The flop was 7s,9c,Ts, giving me trip 10′s or three of a kind.  The small blind lead out with an $8 bet which was half of my remaining stack so I shoved, going all-in. I turned over my pocket tens and my opponent turned over pocket Kings. The turn card was a 9s, leaving three spades on the board. But the 9 paired the existing 9, giving me a full house of tens over nines.  The river card was a 2d and I won the $44 pot, doubling me up and putting me ahead for the session.

About 29 hands later I picked up a pair of pocket Aces while I was in the small blind. A middle position player raised to $2 and there was one caller. I re-raised to $8.50 in the hopes of winning the pot right then but one opponent called. The flop was Ks,Jc,9s. I looked at my player notes for this opponent and I saw that he plays any hand when he has an Ace and a face card very strongly.  I lead out with a $20 bet and he re-raised me all-in for my remaining $13.00. He had me covered as they say, meaning that he had a larger starting stack then mine. The pot was $83.00 and I turned over my pocket Aces and he turned over AK. The turn and the river cards were 5h, 10d and my Aces won the pot and I doubled up again.

There is a saying, “what the poker gods give, the poker gods take away. About 33 hands later, I caught a pair of pocket Kings and would not give them up even though my opponent was betting very strongly. I had put him all in and he turned over pocket rockets, Aces and won the pot leaving me with just $20, a loss of $63 in that pot and with $10 less than I started the evening with.

I had gotten too over confident and failed to remember the fundamental rules of poker that says when an opponent bets heavily against you, you need to consider the fact that he might have a better hand.

Three hours later I left the table with $38 or $8 more than I started with. It took that long to win back all that I had lost in that one hand.

Do you ever have a winning session that turns into a losing one in just one hand? Were you able to keep playing and not go on tilt? How do you handle large upturns and downturns in your game?