What a Rush!

Played last night, won 3430 in 5 hours of play at the 40/80 game. Won most of it in about 1 hour, where I went on a huge rush. Pocket aces, pockets kings x2, pocket queens, pocket jacks, pocket tens, ace-king suited, ace-queen suited, ace-jack suited, all held up except pocket tens. Been a long time since I went on a rush like that, and had a 3+ rack night. I guess this is one of the reasons I like to play poker. I felt like I totally owned that table and was invincible. I should have played more hands than that, because even the rags I was throwing away would have won.

I made one play last night on Ryan, where even though I got lucky, I still think I played it well. I raised UTG with 5,6 offsuit. I was just coming off my rush, and was feeling spunky. Guy to my left calls, Ryan 3-bets in the small blind, big-blind folds, and the 2 of us call. Flop comes 2,3,5 rainbow. Ryan bets, I call, guy to my left calls. Turn comes 9h, still rainbow. Ryan bets, I raise, guy to my left calls 2 cold! My raise here is a semi-bluff, playing my image. I have been known to smooth-call a preflop 3-bet with pocket kings or pocket aces, so I know Ryan should respect my raise here. Ryan 3-bets, so I know he has a big hand at this point, but I figure I have 9 clean outs, 2 fives, 4 fours, 3 sixes to beat Ryan. I call. I thought the guy to my left called, but it turned out he mucked when I called Ryan's 3-bet. I put the guy on my left on a wheel draw, with something like ace-ten/ace-jack. I was praying for a 4, so I could nail him. I was sitting in the 9 seat, while he was in the 1 seat, so it was difficult for me to see him. I should have payed more attention. River comes a six, giving me two pair, but putting a 4 card straight on board. Ryan bet. I just called, because I thought the one seat still had a hand. I looked over to the dealer, and asked did the 1 seat call? The dealer replied, he mucked on the turn. DAMN! Had I known he mucked on the turn, I would have raised the river. Ryan shows pocket queens, and I take down the pot. Ryan was a little upset, asking how I could play that hand. I didn't say anything at the time. Later I asked him what he thought I had on the turn, and he said he didn't really think about what I had. Thus I learned that Ryan, is still pretty much a 1st level thinker, doesn't consider the texture of the board, the action up to that point, and what hands the other players could possibly have. If I did have pocket kings or pocket aces, I play it very similar, although I probably would have raised the flop, instead of calling. As always in poker, everything depends. There's never only one-way to play a hand. Guess that's one of the reasons I like to play this game.