more activity, not much different results

I was very active in the cash game last night. I played many hands more aggressively - preflop raising with 9Ts, raising a limper with TJs, a fair amount of continuation betting and the occasional checkraise (once with air).

But I also made some poor river calls - twice on double paired boards. In the first, I had nothing but ace high and the board had both Kings and Twos. The king was top pair from the start and I didn't believe my opponent Pietzak had one, and I couldn't assume a deuce because it was a raised pot. When he bet out I figured he was making the play you're supposed to make - putting me into a decision to make a call hoping for a split - and he succeeded. I called hoping for a split, but he somehow found a deuce in his hand.

A similar thing happened with Tony - the final board ended up JJ99x, with three flush cards. I hit the flush on the river. Any jack or 9 beats me, but an aggressive player who easily likes to represent the dangers of the board is betting at me - I felt like I could pick off a counterfeited pocket pair or ace high with my flush. Nope, he had a jack.

All of this activity put me about even on the night. I ended up down $18, mainly due to getting $25 bucks in good with AK vs. A8 (someone making a move), and him hitting his 8. I played this hand very well - a middle position player raised it up to $4. I thought about 3 betting with my big slick, but I glanced behind me and there were two short stacks, both capable of of trying a squeeze play shove to take the growing pot if I just called. I called and got just what I hoped for when Johnny J shoved behind me. Johnny J is a very tight player and I thought I would most likely be racing a pair of jacks or queens, but just maybe I had caught him with AQ. I was really shocked to see him flip over A8 - that's a very light 3 bet all in for him - and it amounted to a move on his part. I had caught him in my trap perfectly and all I had to do was dodge an 8, but it didn't happen.