PS 2 HU $2 + .20 End 2nd 54 Hands

This was a somewhat depressing session. I had him down to 370 chips and it looked like I should have him by the way he was playing overall, e.g. he would take small pairs to the River even when bet against and the board showed higher cards.

His 1st small comback was when I had pocket 8's. I open raised 2 BB and he went all-in for 370, I called. He showed Qc 10h. Flop 2c 10s 4d. He paired his 10. Turn Qd. He now has top two pair. River 6s. Strike one for me.

His next gain was my going for straight & flush draw and not hitting either. I have Jh 6h as BB and he open raises 2 BB (60), I call. Flop 4h 10h 3c. I have a heart flush draw. I check and he bets all-in w/560, I call. He shows Ks Qs, 2 overcards. Turn 5s. I now have an open ended straight draw as well. River 4s. Nothing hits. Strike 2. He's up to 1240 chips.

This hand it's the battle of the two pairs with him sucking out on the River. I'm BB w/5c 6c. He limps in w/60 and I call. Flop 6h 5s Ac. Nice, I have middle and bottom pair, my 56o doesn't look so bad after all. We both check. Turn 4c. He checks and I make a min bet of 30, he calls. Probably I should have made a much larger bet here. River Qh. He bets 120 into the 180 pot. I'm thinking he probably has paired the Ace or Q, and raise him to 300, he calls. He shows Qc 6c hitting top two pair with the Q on the River. Strike 3. Not out, since this isn't baseball and I still have 1040 chips!! Looking at his cards, it's possible even if I made a larger bet on the Turn he might have stayed in for the club flush draw having the Q in his hand.

My next foray in trying to get the lead back, I'm SB w/pocket 9's. I open raise 2 BB (100) and he calls. Flop 4c 7c 8d. Not bad for my 9's. He bets 50 into the 200 pot and I raise to 100, he calls. Turn 10d. An overcard plus an open-ended straight draw. He bets 150 into the 400 pot and I call. River 5c. I didn't get my straight and the board shows a possible flush. He bets 150 again into the 700 pot. That's not a very big bet and there is only one overcard on the board. If he had a flush I think he'd have bet bigger, so I call. He shows 7s 10c, pairing his 7 on the flop and his 10 on the Turn. Strike 4. I'm down to 750 chips.

Then we come to the last hand. I'm BB w/pocket J's (Jh Js). He limps in w/50 and I raise him to 100 and he re-raises me to 150. I meant to go all-in w/my last 750 chips here but the slider stopped 100 short, so I just re-raise him to 650 and he calls. Flop 4h 8d 7c. Looking very good for my J's. I go all-in w/my last 100 and he calls showing Ad 10d, one overcard. Turn Ac. Uh Oh. he paired his Ace. River 5d. Strike 5 and I'm out!!

As I said at the start, disappointing since I was so far ahead. I feel, overall, I played it ok and though I might have made a few changes I doubt the outcome would have been much different.