Running Good...Playing Good

OK, grammar junkies, I'm playing well.

Tis been a decent online week. I tripled up my buy-in at a low level 6 handed PLHE table the other night. My oh my I'd forgotten how good these games can get.
* Button-raised w/ A6o, flopped the A, turned the 6 and took a sizeable pot off the guy who couldn't release A4.
* Cutoff raised w/ KK. Button and both blinds called. Hmmm. Made 1/2 pot bet on Qc 2s 8s flop and just the button stuck around. I put him all-in on the 9h turn and he flips over JJ. wp, sir.
* My AA outlasted the same guy's KK soon thereafter.
* The next nice pot came from the SB w/ 77. Button limped, as did I. Flop 3s 3h Kh. I bet out 2/3 pot just to see if anyone has the K, with every intention to insta-fold if it's played back at me. I get a fold and a call. Turn is a 7 and I have the boat. Suh-weet. I check it and he checks behind. Seemingly harmless 8s on the river. I lead out and get raised. oohhh. I re-raise and he goes in the tank, finally calling with Kd Td.
* Won a couple smallish pots to get over 3x the original buy-in. The best part about the session was that I lost no sizeable pots. I released in situations where there was the scent of trouble, and just waited for the right situations to chip up through others and pick off foolish c-bets and the like.

I took 3rd in a SNG that night, doing nothing of note for the first 45 minutes, then doubling up through a guy who got sporty with 76s when I had KJo in the BB and <10BBs to go. Finally when it's four-handed and I have 6BBs, I open shove with the motherlode...6c 9h. I get called by Qd Kc and I donkishly flop a 9 to double up. From there I fold into the money and fade away in 3rd.

Put up a noble fight in a SNG last night, falling victim when it was 5-handed and I had 9BBs left. I called a min-raise from a character who had been playing all sortsashit all night. Me - I had 6c 7d and I'm hoping to pick this guy off. Flop is a dangerous Qh Qs Jc and it goes check-check. Turn is 6s and I'm a shovin, only to find AQ behind Door #2. Boof.

Picked off a $10 SNG thereafter, with a mook on each side of me. Kept waiting to trap them, then when they both vanished and it was heads-up, I pulled some shit out of my ass against a good player. He didn't deserve it...the mooks did.

Tonight, I got in an interesting chatwar with some mook. I called his preflop minraise and then check-shoved on the flop when he led out very weakly (something like 35% of the pot). This was screaming of a missed Ax or a middling pocket pair. The board was 3d Kc 5d and all I had was bottom pair/top kicker, but it was enough. After he mucked, I just said that "i had AJ beat." Well...I DID. But it set him off. He then did something no fool has ever done before...he tried to turn into an analyst. Even rewarded a guy for making a call of a shortstack's all-in when the caller had 22. Told him it was a "good call" because it was a "coin flip". Now that's the kind of insight you just don't get anywhere.

Anyway, made it to heads up after the mouth got bounced by a runner-runner flush. The villain here has been pretty LAGgy so I'm just waiting for the right spot. Second heads-up hand I have AdQd in the BB and he open shoves. Fuckyes. Instacall and he tables Qs 7s. Well doesn't the bastard flop the spade draw, turn a gutter...and then hit the 7 on the river to take me out.

Whatever. I'm playing well, making better decisions on when to be aggressive and when to wait. Plus I'm getting some more opportunities with good-but-not-stellar hands to do some stealing when it gets short. I'm waiting for hands where I can fall back on something and not just recklessly shoving.

I'll change gears for the second home game in a week tomorrow night and just pray I draw a better seat than last time.