2 HU $5 + .50 End 1st 8 Hands

Decided to move up to $5 HU for a change since I've been doing well at the $2 and it ended well this session. Not sure I played the best poker, particularly on the last hand, where I needed a flush draw on the River to win IF he didn't also have a possible flush in hearts as my high heart was a 6.

Hand 1. I have 7d 5d am BB. SB open raises 3 BB (60) and I call. Flop 6c 3d 5s. I pair my 5 and have a gutshot straight draw. I bet 70 into the 120 pot and the SB calls. Turn 6h. That pairs the board and doesn't help me that much, particularly if he has a 6. This time I just check and SB bets 100. Not sure what that means beyond what he sees on the board doesn't seem to worry him. I call. River 4s. I hit my straight and all I need to worry about is his having a 78 to have a higher straight, or a FH. I optimistically bet 280 into the 460 pot and the SB calls. That worries me a bit. He shows Ah Qs, just the top 2 cards, no pair. I'm surprised that's all he had and happy to pick up the chips. He now has 990 and I hope I can play well enough to keep this initial advantage and pick up the rest of his chips.

Hand 3 was another good one for me. I'm BB w/7h 3d. SB open raises 3 BB (60) and I call. Flop Ad 7s 7d. I hit trip 7's!! Since that looks like a pretty scary flop I decide to check and hope he'll take a stab at it and he does betting 60 into the 120 pot, I call. Turn Ac. Hmmm, that gives me a FH BUT if he has an Ace he has a better FH than me. Again I check and SB bets 80 into the 240 pot, I call. I'm hoping that small bet means he doesn't have an Ace and that he's not just slow playing me to my later doom. River 2h. OK, well I'm in no worse shape than I was on the Turn with that card. I decide to risk a bet of 100 into the 400 pot and hope even if he doesn't have the nuts, he has something good enough he'll drop a 100 in. He does and shows pocket 8's giving him 2 pair. I win and he's down to 620 chips.

Hand 8. I'm SB w/6h 3h and open raise 2 BB (40). BB re-raises me to 100 and I call to look at the flop. This could be a very quick hand!! Flop 9h 7d Jh. Nuts. I have a flush draw but not very good (e.g. high) cards in my hand. BB bets 160 into the 200 pot and I decide to go for the draw and call. Turn Ac. No help to me. BB decides to go all-in w/their last 430 chips into the 520 pot. They could have a lot of cards to beat me; I wonder if they have a flush draw as well. I look at their chips and my chips and decide if I call and lose I'll still have the chip lead and based on their play so far I feel I still have a good chance of winning in the long run unless I do something really stupid. I call. BB shows 5d 9d having paired their 9 on the flop. They don't have a flush draw. I can only win with a heart on the River. River Kh!!!!! I win!!!

I got very lucky with small pocket cards going my way on the flop and/or the Turn & River. I also had a player who was willing to get it in without the best of cards compared to what the board was showing. His all-in bet on the Turn in the last hand may have been a partial bluff and he was hoping the Ac would scare me off and in many cases it certainly would have.