tonight's crushing mistake.

Not really.

I called an under the gun raise with KQ. I was on the button. The small blind also called.

Flop K67. Top pair, ok kicker. Both players checked to me. I checked behind. Both players were solid and aggressive - I felt like I might get checkraised and have a nasty decision, especially from the under the gun guy who could be lurking with better hands like AA, AK, or worse hands like QQ, leaving it to me to make the call - go broke with top pair or not?. I thought a check would let me play a medium pot instead of a big one, and would also under-represent my hand and allow bluffs into me.

Turn was a 2. Not much going on there. This time, after 2 more checks, I bet - $2 into $3.25. The small blind called. What is he calling with? One of the second pairs, not believing me. Eights, Nines, Tens. Flush and straight draws. Looked good.

River paired the board. 6. Small blind leads out for $4 into a $7.25. He could have hit the six, sure. Or he could be stabbing with a busted draw, thinking I was stabbing myself after 2 rounds of checks. Or, as I had assumed on the turn, a pair under the king, thinking he was good since we all checked the king.

I called. I felt like my king queen was ahead of his betting range. Plus, it wasn't a huge pot or a huge bet.

Villain shows pocket deuces. My flop check let him draw to his two outs for free.

Lord have mercy. One friggin alternately-played hand lets a guy drawing nearly dead get there. They always say bet to protect your hand, but from a two-outer? I guess the 67 and the two clubs might have been greater cause for concern.

Apart from that hand, I played about even.