9 SNG $5 + .50 End 7th 35 Hands

OK to mixed to poor play. Hand 17 was my first foray into poor play. The previous two hands I'd tried steals that did not work. I'm HJ w/Kd Td and 1185 chips. I decide to try another steal and open raise 3 1/2 BB (175), rest fold to the BB who calls. Flop  2s 4d 7s. I hit nothing. BB checks and I bet 200 into the 375 pot and they raise me all- in. :-/ I have to fold. I'm down to 810 chips. I should have remembered that play on the BB's part for later, as they did a similar thing to me later, where they checked and let me raise, then went all-in on the River.

Hand 20 against the same player I managed to double up. I was BB w/Jh Qh & 750 chips. Three players limped in for 60 and I checked. Flop 3d 3h Kh. I flop a heart flush draw.I check and the CO (same player I was against hand 17) bets the pot of 240, BTN & SB fold, I call. Turn 7h. I hit my flush. Again I check and HJ bets 450 into the 720 pot which, when I call, puts me all-in for my last 510 chips. I was a little worried that they might have a FH but they show two hearts (9h Th) also having a heart flush, but mine is better. River As. I win and now have 1740 chips.

Hand 21 I picked up some more chips. I'm the SB w/Qd 4c. HJ limps in for 60, I call & BB checks. Flop 4d 9s Qs. I hit top and bottom pair!  I check and the other two follow. Turn 6h. I bet the pot of 180, BB calls, & HJ folds. River 3d. I bet 270 into the 540 pot & BB calls showing Qc Jd, pairing the Q on the flop. I win and now have 2310 chips!!

Hand 22 I'm on a roll!! I'm the BTN w/7s 8s. Action folds to me and I open raise 2 BB (120), SB folds, & BB calls. Flop 6d 3s As. I have a spade flush draw. BB bets 120 into the 270 pot and I call. Turn 2c. BB checks & I decide to check too. River 5s. I hit my flush! and the board looks like a straight is possible too. BB bets 300 into the 510 pot and I decide to raise to 750. I don't think they have a flush and hoping they have a straight that might help them to call me. They call showing 5c 6c, having hit a 2nd pair on the River. I win and now have 3330 chips. Nice comeback!!

Alas this success wasn't to hold. Hand 28. I'm SB w/5s 4s. HJ (player I've had earlier hands here with) limps in for 80, BTN folds, I call & BB checks. Flop  Js 8s 9s. I've hit a spade flush!!! BUT I do only have two small spades. I bet 120 into the 240 pot, BB folds & HJ calls. Turn 3c. I bet 240 into the 480 pot and the HJ calls. Hmmm, what do they have? Could I have got them off it with a bigger bet? I'm hoping they aren't on a spade flush draw. River 4d. So far so good. I bet 520 into the 960 pot hoping he either folds or calls but, but the HJ raises me all-in w/their last 2000 chips. Rats. Could they also have a spade flush with better cards than me? That seems the most likely reason for that big raise back to me. Anyway I bite my tongue and call, praying to the poker gods they don't have better spades then me. Ugh, they show As 6d. I'm down to 730 chips. Maybe that's karma payback, as that was what I did to them in hand 20. At the 2000 raise point I should have just licked my wounds and folded hating doing it all the way, BUT at least I'd still be in that session with enough chips to work with.

I wasn't able to do much w/my 730 chips and in hand 35 I took my Qs Td against an Ac 7d and the Ace prevailed.