Just enough to suck me in

So after talking with my coach, Jason, for a while, I decide to go play live. 1/2 NL, I bring two buyins; I leave one in the car.

A couple of rounds in, I'm SB, and this guy straddles, betting $4 in the dark and gaining an option to raise after the BB calls.

There are a couple of calls behind him; I look down and see two black aces.

I raise to 15$ straight, and Adam(BB) and Chris(straddle) call behind me, the rest of the limpers fold.

I look at Jason, "I thought you told me 15$ preflop shuts this table down?" He shrugs.

Flop: QJ8 two spades.

I bet the pot hoping to shut down the draws, Adam calls, Chris raises, putting us both AI. Great. So much for careful play. I'm thinking of the ways that I'm beat, Adam starts whining about how he's sure that he has the best hand. I think I'm up against a set and 2 pair, putting me firmly in 3rd place, but Adam is moaning so much, I think if I call, Adam will fold, not wanting to suffer the draws vs. a bet and a call for all his money. I wanted to isolate anyway, but I still think I'm behind. If Adam calls, I'll have better odds: I have overpair aces, but I need my draws to best set, top 2 pair, or a back door straight or flush. 6 outs, by my retarded math.

Chris calls time, I make a weak joke and the horrid call, believing I'm behind. Adam bitches a little more and folds, showing top 2 pair. Tough fold, it is the best hand as Chris shows 82 for bottom pair and the flush draw. Good bet by Chris. He almost got 2 much better hands to fold to him. Hey! I'm ahead. He was counting on us to fold. But even if we stayed, he had the good draws.

Turn spade. Feck!. 26% to catch.

I did plan to play a little loose with my first buyin, looks like an early trip to the car…

River spade. Runner runner, and I've caught it.

Damn. Nice to re-suckout for so much. It seems like it never happens to me, but it did tonight! After that, there were 3 or 4 more large pots and I won them.

Just enough to suck me back into the game. But I realize that I was stupid lucky that first hand, and I've got to become a much better player if I expect to survive.

On the other hand, winning that one hand gave me a lot of someone else's money. Playing with that $ gave me the confidence to play aggressively and boldly.