Playing live yesterday, the theme seemed to be, "what's the most creative way I can get f*cked over?" I didn't lose much, about $110, but I certainly made enough mistakes to cover that difference.

Early on, with a $100 stack, I limped with [6c 5c], one guy raised to $12 behind me, and three other people called. Closing the action, it was an easy call. Flop came [Ac 7c 6s]. BB bet $15, and I pushed for about $85 to win $75, plus I have about 50% equity against one pair hands. Folded to him, he calls with A9, and I can't win a 50-50. Standard.

Later on, I one a nice pot when I limped on the button with [Ks 3s]. Flop came a beautiful [Ah 3h 3d]. Checked to me, I bet $10, and a loose bad player check-raised me to $25. I called with intention of raising his turn bet. On the turn, he pushed his $70ish stack on the [9d], and I snap-called. The river gave me the inconsequential [3c] for quads, and I scooped a nice one. My worst hand of the night turns out to be my biggest money winner.

Another hand, I raised to $15 behind a limper with [Jc Js], and the blinds and the limper called. Flop was [Kc Jh Ts], checked to me, I bet $40, and they all folded. Give me a break... no one caught a piece of that after calling a 5x BB raise?

In another hand with the loose player, I think I messed up a bit. I checked the BB with [Jh 2h]. Flop came [Jc Tc 2c]. I checked, the loose player bet $15, and it got folded back to me. My plan was to check-call all three streets if no club came to let him bluff or false value bet his hand. I figure if we get it in, he will still have a lot of outs, and I'd rather play it cautious. However, when I checked the [7h] turn, he pushed all-in for $225! Now I was really in a quandary, because I was almost sure I had the best hand. The problem was, my hand was severely under-represented, and he probably put ME on a lone club and didn't want me drawing (I didn't put him on a flush, however, because he would still want to preserve some value). I reluctantly folded after three minutes in the tank. Looking back on it, I probably should have taken a bet/fold line in the hand instead of check/call, because he might have been falsely protecting something like QJ that he believed he was ahead with while betting, but would call down with if I bet. Weird spot, and I'm still a little upset I didn't summon up the courage to call, because I really think I had him, even if he did have a ton of outs.

My real mistakes came in failing to extract value from one pair hands. Twice I made Aces on the flop and either called a bet or raised in position, and then checked behind on the turn to keep the pot small. I have no problem with that most of the time. However, each time my opponent checked to me on the river, I checked behind rather than bet an obviously superior hand. I have every reason to believe I would have been paid in both spots, too, so that's at least $50 in missed value for the night.

My worst blunder, however, was limping in the CO with [Kh Jd] behind some limpers, only to have the button raise to $16 behind me. He got four callers, and now it's back on my to close the action. Now, I don't know how I folded here, but somehow my brain said my equity was shite, so I released it. Folding for that price in what is arguably great relative position was really bad, but somehow I thought that there would be a huge flop bet, and I would be left in no man's land if I flopped top pair or a straight draw. Anyway, the flop came J-high, it got checked around, the turn was another Jack, there was a bet and a call, and then the river was checked. The loose player I mentioned before ended up winning with a pair of tens, and I know I could have extracted from him on the river. Not calling $13 there was amplified into a $150 mistake. The money you don't make is worth just as much as the money you lose.

One hand I played perfectly, and still lost. Down to 6-handed, I raised to $12 in second position behind a limper with [Kh Qh]. Only he called me. Flop was [Qd Ts 4h]. He checked, and I made a small continuation bet of $13. He called. The turn was the [3h], giving me a flush draw. He checked and said, "that was a good card for me." I asked him why, and he said, "it didn't make an ace or king for you... I think I'm still ahead." It was very obvious to me he had a weak hand or a draw and didn't want me to bet. I decided on a $22 bet, enough to entice a weak Queen or a ten, and enough to give deceptive (but incorrect) odds to a straight draw. The river was the [9c], he checked, and I checked behind, just in case. He showed me the [9s 9h]. Wheee, a two outter on the river. Still, I'm at least happy with how I played that hand.

Missing out on value sucks a lot, and is just as bad as making bad calls. I really need to work on that, because that probably would have been the difference between a winning and losing session. Not real happy with my play.