I started taking poker seriously a little before him and was a better and more successful player for a bit, but he really buckled down and studied the game. He then proceeded to play like a machine and is now one of the top 5/10 NL players on the internet, and I'm a lowly 2/4 grinder.
During my recent bad stretch I asked him if, as a personal favor, I could sweat him during a session and try and pick up some things. He did this, and watched me play for a bit and pointed out some things he thought I should work on.
My favorite lagtard was playing 5/10, which he basically never does, so I decided to move up for the session. Unfortunately Derek, as usual, was there.
First we played the following hand:
Dealt to Xaston [Th As]
Xaston: raises $20 to $30
LotsOfLooove: folds
Alotofaction: folds
DerekJC9954: calls $25
Alice1942: folds
*** FLOP *** [6h 4s Ad]
DerekJC9954: checks
Xaston: bets $55
DerekJC9954: raises $85 to $140
Xaston: calls $85
*** TURN *** [6h 4s Ad]
![The Queen of Hearts [Qh]](https://pofex.com/images/smilies/Qh.gif)
DerekJC9954: checks
Xaston: checks
*** RIVER *** [6h 4s Ad Qh]
![The Queen of Diamonds [Qd]](https://pofex.com/images/smilies/Qd.gif)
DerekJC9954: bets $280
Xaston: calls $280
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DerekJC9954: shows [7d 6d] (two pair, Queens and Sixes)
Xaston: shows [Th As] (two pair, Aces and Queens)
Xaston collected $908 from pot
Literally 8 minutes later, the following hand happens:
Dealt to Xaston [Qd Qs]
Xaston: raises $20 to $30
LotsOfLooove: folds
Alotofaction: folds
DerekJC9954: calls $25
Alice1942: folds
*** FLOP *** [5c 2d Ks]
DerekJC9954: checks
Xaston: bets $55
DerekJC9954: raises $85 to $140
Xaston: calls $85
*** TURN *** [5c 2d Ks]
![The Jack of Hearts [Jh]](https://pofex.com/images/smilies/Jh.gif)
DerekJC9954: checks
Xaston: checks
*** RIVER *** [5c 2d Ks Jh]
![The Six of Clubs [6c]](https://pofex.com/images/smilies/6c.gif)
DerekJC9954: bets $290
I start the hand with $1650 and he covers if anyone is thinking anything crazy.