Hand Analysis in NOLA

So I played the NoLimit in New Orleans yesterday fro $555. Here's how a few of my hands played out.

57s SB. Limped pot. QdT7d. Lead out. BB raises, a player calls, I call.

Turn: 7. Check. BB bets. Other player calls. I raise, big. BB folds. Other player calls. 3d river. I bet 2200. Insta call from other player. He has AQ. I win. (BB had 73 and would have won) What's interesting to me is that I'm surprised the AQ called. When I made the check raise at the paired board from the blind I said to myself, "I shouldn't have done that. It's so obvious that I have a 7. What can they call with but a better hand or a diamond draw." It worked out though because the 7 with no kicker (who would've filled up on the river) folded and I was left with a donkey caller.

EP raise from a weak player. I call with ATs. I know he raises weak hands. Flop Q9d8d. He bet 600. I call. Turn blank. He bet 600. I call. J on the river. He bet 1100. I raise to 3k. He calls. I win. I knew that I was drawing to a gut shot, but there was the possibility that my A high was good enough to win and I figured if an A came I would win, so I counted on more outs than just the J. Of course when the hands went face up, the other guy had something like Q7 suited. I can't believe he donked off another 2k+ on the river when I raised him! And I can't beleive that this donkey made it to the final 20 players in the tournament! Ugh! Especially when I'm watching from the rail.

Ad3d SB. There's a smallish raise. 2 callers. I call. Flop is 873. I check. Preflop riaser bets. I call. Others fold. Turn 3. I check. He bets 3k. I call. River is a blank. I check. He has 3k left but checks. I win. This hand was most interesting because I sent this guy on tilt. I checked the river thinking that he'd fire a third barrell and I'd get him all in. He bet something like 2 or 3k on the turn and left himself with just 3k so I felt he was pot committed and willing to bet the river. Anyway, I missed a bet here.

The game changed a little and I started finding myself with good hands running into better hands. I had a spot where I could have called all-in as a 60% favorite but instead opted to fold. In a cash game I would have called in a heartbeat, but in a tournament my hand was a drawing hand. Me: TsJs. Board: 8c6s9s. Here are my 15 outs: 7h7d7s7cQdQhQsQc2s3s4s5s8sKsAs. I tbhought that I might be up against AK so I raised his flop bet instead of flat calling like I should have done. He then shoved all-in and I, after much debate, folded. I believe he had AA on that hand and I had to hit or go home.

Later I picked up AT. The player on my right raised and I kn ow he's been raising a lot. I sbhould have reraised him preflop, but I didn't. The flop came 57T. He lead out and, again, I should have raised him, but I didn't and I just smooth called. The turn was a 5 and he checked. I shoved all in and he snap called with 5d2d to eliminate me from the tournament.

That was my day in the tournament. There were other bands in the sitngos and in the cash game that are woth discussing, but my fingers are  tired. Suffice it to say that I won my buyin back before the day was out. See ya'll later!