Well, I'm happy to say that I had a pretty sweet session tonight--up $718 after only 5 hours of play. No stacking of anyone but a fair number of good pots going my way.

As to table strategy, I stuck largely with the more conservative version at this table, although I did throw in one loose LP raise as well as a continuation bet from LP with QQ when checked to me with an A on the board (loose raise didn't work but only cost $25, QQ bet did work and took down a $100 pot).

Here were the more interesting hands:

1) This hand I'm posting largely as preface to hand 2, on which I have some questions. I'm in BB with JJ. About 4 limpers, and I make it $30 to go. I get one caller, an older guy who is pretty LAG-ish. I had played with him once before and thought he was a bit of a loose cannon at 2/5, but the good players who play the 5/10 regularly have a lot of respect for this guy, who was having a bad time tonight, generally on pretty good hands. Apparently the 2/5 is too small a game for him sometimes, but he was concentrated, and I think one can assume that he knows what he's doing.

Anyhow, we're HU on this one, and the flop comes J67 (I'm pretty sure--I know it was J-rags anyway) rainbow. HU, I decide to just check this one, as I think he'll bet. He does make the bet of $60. I checkraise to $180, and he folds. I figure he was trying to buy here and had nothing at all, and, while there is a straight draw on this board, I was willing to take that risk with the initial check. One could even argue for a check-call, but I'm not that generous even with top set. I'm posting this one mainly as intro to hand 2, in which I have the same opponent, and on which I may have had a little slop in there.

2) Same player raises to $20 from UTG+1 or MP1, gets 2 callers, and I look down on AA in BB. The raiser has about $550 in front of him, and I have him covered.

I make it $80 to go here, which is actually perhaps a little on the passive side. We have $80 in the pot, so he stands to win over $600 on a call of $60. I think I really should have made it a flat $100 here.

Flop comes raggedy clubs, and I have Ac. I believe it was actually 754, which would be a bit worrisome if the pot weren't re-raised. I bet pot of $200, and strong LAG flat calls. I put him on KK or QQ, perhaps with a club.

The turn is another 7. And here is where I'm really not sure. At this point, he has about $350 in front of him, and the pot is $600. I just go ahead and move in. He folds.

While I'm happy with this pot, I'm just not sure whether I could have pulled more out of a LAG with perhaps a weak-ish bet (?). I COULD even check it and hope for a bet (in the spirit of hand 1), but if he rivers a K or Q, I can't see laying down. With the odds against that river at something like 24:1, another option would be to throw out a bet of $100 there, hoping for a call. And it's quite possible that he has even fewer outs, if his big pair includes no club.

Anyhow, I'm just not sure whether I didn't miss some equity on this one by betting too big on the turn.

An additional note: Against most of the regulars, I think my big sessions are just going to be more like tonight's, with not nearly as much stacking these days as I had a few months ago. I'm not sure exactly what that means in terms of adjusting my play, if anything. It just takes away a bit of equity that I definitely had in the first few months. It's just that most of the players left are capable of laying down and pretty much know that when I start betting big, I definitely do have something pretty serious, whether or not it's the winner.

3) This hand I'm actually pretty proud of. I play J9s from CO, and the flop comes T85 rainbow. 6 limpers, and MP bets out $30 (this is a guy I have stacked when he moved in on AK after I re-raised him with AA--in this hand, he has a huge stack of over $1,000, and I have about the same), good but loose player to my immediate right calls, and I make it $120. A month or so ago I would have been a bit more strict and made it $150, giving 2:1, but I figured $120 was enough to give me some serious fold equity.

Initial bettor flat calls, and the player to my right folds. The turn is a K, and the bettor checks to me (the beauty of the semi-bluff in position!). I check.

River is my case 7. Bettor checks, and I make it $150. He calls. Here is another slight change from some of my previous bets. With a pot of almost $300, I would in the past have bet significantly more here. But this player also takes a very long time to call the $150, and I think I would have been very hard-pressed to suck any more out of him.

I don't know what he had here, maybe something like AT. I don't think he would have hesitated or checked if he had KT, actually. I should have waited for him to turn over before showing my own hand, but I didn't, so no telling.

Anyhow, I think selling the hand on the river was a better move than making a bet in excess of $200, which I don't think he would have called.

On the AA hand, I check the turn for several reasons. 1) you are probably way ahead so you should slow down to possibly extract value and 2) It gives future turn checks more credibility when you want a cheaper showdown. I don't think your play is all that bad though.

J9 hand--perfect