The BB is a mediocre opponent, rated Slightly Loose / Neutral by Excessions rules. I have played over 100 hands with him and seen him play aggressively with draws a couple times.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (9 handed)

Button ($83)
SB ($169.68)
BB ($132.25)
UTG ($94.75)
UTG+1 ($108.95)
Hero ($130)
MP2 ($128.02)
MP3 ($99)
CO ($62)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with , . SB posts a blind of $0.5.
2 folds, Hero raises to $4, 4 folds, SB (poster) calls $3.50, BB calls $3.

My standard 4X raise and only the blinds come along.

Flop: ($12) , , (3 players)
SB checks, BB bets $4, Hero raises to $15, SB folds, BB raises to $30, Hero calls $15.

The BB led out with a 1/3 pot bet. Very weak. I don't put him on a flopped str8. Probably some kind of Top Pair or Straight / Flush Draw. I raised to take it down now and protect from any draws. I really doubt a made hand other than a pair here. But then he re raises. Crap, I don't even have a hand yet. Well, I have a gut shot to the nuts and a few more cards to make top pair.

Turn: ($72) (2 players)
BB bets $35, Hero calls $96 (All-In), BB calls $61.

Looks like a tentative bet. Only 1/2 pot after the flop aggression? Makes me think my pair of Aces are good. I'll put him to a decision ???

River: ($264) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Wow, now I have trips.

Final Pot: $264

Results in white below:
BB has Kd Qs (straight, ace high).
Hero has Kc Ad (three of a kind, aces).
Outcome: BB wins $264.

What the heck was I thinking?

Assuming you called the flop raise which is where I think I went wrong how would you play from there.

I like the raise on the flop..his play looks weak and you do have some outs to the nuts.

You need to fold to the reraise though. You don't have odds to be hitting a gutshot and you don't know even if you hit your top pair, if it's good.

On the turn he bets out again a decent sized bet when an ace hits....no fear! Now you're in a tough spot.

I'm reading the book "zen and the art of poker." In it he talks about chaos theory and how it starts with one mistake and then keeps getting worse, eventually turing into chaos. This was the case here.

The mistake was calling the reraise. Fix that problem and you don't give yourself the chance to compound on your error.

I probably fold to the reraise as well. I definitely do NOT move all-in when the ace falls. You are basically insuring that only a winning hand will call you and you gain no value from any trailing hands. Basically, all risk and no reward.

I would note that the guy will call a X4BB pfr OOP with KQo. That's pretty stupid in my book, and you can probably get him later.

TR

I really think you have to dump that on the flop. I for one; upon hitting a hand big and will bet the pot on the flop and 1/2 the pot on the turn to rope them in further attempting to show weakness. But on the flop I really like your raise, but on that reraise, I'm done with that hand. Yet when he bets 1/2 the pot on the turn, if he is aggressive and he is leading into you with 1/2 pot bets I put him on something big that wants to get paid off. Tough hand.

Thanks for the replys. Funny how as I pushed I knew I was beat. One of my worst leaks has nothing to do with the cards and everything to do with getting caught up in the heat of battle. I seem to go on autopilot with an aggressive approach once I start down that road. I will continue to focus on that.

BK