2 HU $1 + .10 End 2nd 75 hands

Mixed play. I don't feel I played badly but could have played better. AK did not do well for me, missing the flop all three times I had it. AKo vs 44, AKo vs ?? w/flop of 7s 9d 4h 5c Jc (it might have worked better if I had played that one more aggressively instead of passively), and AKo vs ?? w/flop 8s 8h 7h Qh Jh (I played aggressive pre-flop, but slowed down after). Of course my opponent was hurt real bad w/AKo later and I thought I'd win from there when he went down to 210 chips, but he made a comeback.

Hand 50.I'm SB w/Ks Qs and 1370 chips. Blinds 25/50. I open raise w/125 and BB reraises me to 200, I call. Flop Qh 9h 5d. I pair my Q. BB bets 100 into the 400 pot and I raise to 200, BB calls. Turn 7h. Don't like that as it makes a flush possible. BB checks and I decide to take a stab at the pot and bet 375 into the 800 pot, BB calls. Not sure what that means as I'd rather he folded at this point. River Kc. I have top two pair. BB checks and I decide to go all-in w/my last 620. If he has the flush he's not been betting it. BB shows As Kh pairing his K on the River. I win and he's down to 210 chips. I expected to win from here.

Hand 54. I'm SB w/Qs 6s. BB has 210 in chips after posting the BB. I open raise 2 BB (100) and as I expected BB re-raises all-in, I call. BB shows pocket 2's. I have 2 overcards. Flop 5d Kh 9h. No help to me. Turn 2s. He hits his set. River 6h. He now has 520 chips.

Hand 60. I'm SB w/Kd 7c. BB has 495 chips after posting BB. I open raise 2 1/2 BB (125) and BB calls. Flop Ah Jd 8c. Nothing for me. BB checks and I bet 125 into the 250 pot. BB calls leaving them w/295 chips. Turn Ac. Ah, that I don't like to see. If BB has an Ace they are in pretty good shape now. BB checks and w/two Ace's out there I do the same. River Qs. I didn't pair anything. BB makes a min bet of 50 into the 600 pot and I decide to call to see what they have. They show Jc 5s, having paired J's on the flop. Since he called my bet on the flop w/an Ace showing, I don't know if he'd have backed down if I'd bet the turn. Being more aggressive at that point might have been more helpful and if he called, I could reconsider what I'd do next. He now has 845 chips.

Hand 61. I'm BB w/Ad 2s. SB limps w/50 and I call. Flop Jc Qh Js. Interesting and not much help to me. Both I and the BB check. Turn Ac. I've paired my Ace. I bet 50 into the 100 pot and the SB calls. River 2c. I now have top two pair, but the board is paried with J's and shows a possible flush as well. I make a min bet of 50 into the 200 pot and the SB raises to 150. Since it's a small bet and I want to see what he has I call. SB shows Jh 2h. They had trip J's on the fop and a FH on the River. We're back to even.

Hand 62 I get some of the chips back. I'm SB w/Kc 10h. I open raise 2 1/2 BB (125) and the BB calls. Flop 6c 4s 10c. I have top pair. BB checks and I bet 100 into the 250 pot, BB calls. Turn Jd. BB checks and I bet 175 into the 450 pot, BB calls. River 2h. BB checks and I decide to check as well. BB shows Qc 9c. I win and they are back down to 695 chips.

Hand 63 & 64 they get chips back. Hand 63 I have Ac Ks but the board ran out 8s 8h 7h Qh Jh and I folded to a River bet. Hand 64 I had 8h 9h, made a pre-flop raise and checked the rest of the way. Flop showed 6s 2c Kd. BB had pocket K's (Kh Kc) that they did not bet on after they hit the set. They are back to 1115 chips.

Hand 66. This is one I know better than to pursue but did anyway. I'm SB w/6s 8h. I open raise 2 BB (120) and BB calls. Flop 3h 9h Qh. I have an 8h but that would be pretty weak in a "who has the better flush" contest. BB checks and I make a min bet of 60, BB calls. Since I made such a small bet I can't really tell what his calling means; he could have it, he could be drawing. Turn 8s. I paired my 8. Again BB checks and again I make a min bet of 60, BB raises to 120 which is small enough I decide to call. River Ah. I now have a flush but don't feel very comfortable with it. BB checks one more time and I decide to take a stab at it and bet 300 into the 600 pot. BB reraises me to 600 and I decide to call hoping my flush is better but doubting it is. BB shows Kh 6h, having hit the 2nd nut flush on the flop and slow playing it. I'm down to 1015 chips and they have 1985.

Hand 74. The blinds have been eating my chip stack. I'm SB w/Ks 7c and 745 chips. I open raise w/2 BB (120), BB calls. Flop 5s 4h 6c. I have an open ended straight draw. Both the BB & I check. Turn 6d. BB bets 60 and I call. River 7h. I missed the open ended straight and only have my 7 paired. BB bets 180 into the 360 pot and for no good reason I decide to call. Odds are they have the straight and my chip count is so low there is no reason for me to give away another 180 chips just to see if they really do have the straight. BB shows 8h 10d, and indeed they hit a gutshot straight on the River.

Hand 75. I'm BB w/Js 9d and 355 chips.  SB limps in w/60 and I raise all-in w/my last 355. SB calls showing Ks 4c, one overcard. Flop 6h 8c 7s. Some hope for me as I have an open ended straight draw. Turn 3h. River As. All over. I've managed to clutch defeat from the jaws of victory!