Let me start off by giving you the circumstances of the game:

1. - We were about 9 hours into the game.
2. - About half the players were straddling, me not included — a couple of them were defending their straddle extremely hard.
3. - The player that had the straddle in this hand almost always raised when people limped into his straddle and he was last to act.
4. - I had been playing rock solid.

Well, in the small blind I pick up AhAs and see four people limping in before me. Obviously, beeing out of position I would have popped it big right there hoping to be up against at least one player, but realizing the super-loose aggressive player on the straddle I decided to take a risk and limp in with my aces – keeping two things in mind:

1. - I would have to re-raise BIG if people call the raise (which was bound to happen with such a loose player raising and a table filled with people overplaying hands pre-flop)
2. - If the straddle would happen to check, I was prepared to throw away my aces if the action on the flop wouldn’t be to my liking.

So — I limp in with Aces, the Big Blind limps in too, and the straddle makes the BIG raise I was hoping for, raising the $20 straddle to $100. Of the four limpers, two people call effectively putting the pot size over $400, so I decide to repop it to $500 (I had a $4500 stack, the straddle-guy had about $2000). Big blind folds, straddle-guy calls and another really loose player calls too (stack about $1200, decided he was pot-committed if he connected in any possible way).

The flop is a beauty:

AcKc4s

I flop a set of aces, and I’m first to act. Basicly, it’s tough — because I might not see any action if I bet out — but checking could look suspicious too. I do decide to check, and the straddle-guy decides to bet a strange amount – $400. The other caller moves in with his remaining chips – and I decide to repop it all-in. To my surprise, the straddle-guy instacalls. Hands are shown as follows:

• Straddle-guy: AJos
• Loose limp-caller: QJos

That’s about as good as it gets — no flushdraws, just the gutshot to dodge. Blanks hit the turn and the river and I scoop a huge pot.

Limping in worked out great – yet, I’d hardly ever do it again if I don’t have these conditions, obviously.

I told him to go fuck himself and give me some compassion.

No, seriously. He’s so right — but it still sucks. It’s the first time I’ve really had a bad run in all these years and I’m really feeling it. I’ve gone down to the $5/$10 games trying to grind a couple hundred a night but I can’t even seem to do that anymore.

Anyway. I listened to my friend and I’m going to Costa Rica for a couple days, take a quick break.

Cut me some slack, give me a few weeks to recover, and I’ll be back!

I said: “nice call man, I was hoping you had a hand like that and you’d lay it down”.

He replied: “I was pot committed, couldn’t fold for only 75 more.”

I said: “Dude, the pot was like 95!”

He finished me off with a: “Seriously? Oh, I thought we checked the turn — oh no, you’re right, you bet. Damn, hahahahaha I got lucky!”

I went to the bathroom and killed myself.

Oh no. Wait. I didn’t. I went and had a nice WanTan soup, walked to a cash game, won 3 buy-ins to the the SnG and went home.

Life is cruel.