The Fish got Skinned

Call it what you want, I am a fish in the grand scheme of this poker game.  My blog is aptly named.  I'm not the worst player but I'm not the type that would ever be able to actually make a living at this game either.  I am 100% good with that though because I've got a great wife at home, I have a job that pays the bills and I get to play poker when I have time, for fun, and always enjoy the game.

My last session ended with me being a fish after playing well for a few hours.

I built my stack up with a series of hands that started with a straight and ended up trips.  I'm getting close to the end of my session and I look down and see AK suited and that's when everything fell apart.

I raised and got re-raised and this is where the first mistake happened.  There were too many people in the pot for a re-raised pot by the time it got back to me and I realize that I don't have enough experience in these situations to actually play them well and yet I told myself that I will only continue post flop if the flop hits me hard so I called.
I wanted to put in another raise to narrow the field to just one or two players.  I wanted to put in another raise or fold but instead I took the least desirable path and just called the 3 bet.

The flop comes out AK6 and the first person to act puts $75 into a pot of about $150.  The A and K are both spades and the 6 is a diamond.  I think about it for a minute before calling, wanting to Jam any non-spade turn.  The next person to act makes it $300 and in my mind this SCREAMS 666.
I'm tired so the screaming is more of a faint whisper "that bitch has a set of 6's and you must fold."

The original bettor is thinking and thinking and thinking and during this thinking my mind got distracted and somehow I started putting the person who raised on a possible large ace or A6 that was suited, maybe even another AK just trying to chase away a flush draw.  My mind started going over all the scenarios of things she could have had that were not 666 and by the time this other person finally folded I forgot all about my original screams of concern.

If I had to make a decision in 10 seconds after her bet I would have folded and thought nothing about it but this other person taking so long to debate and make a decision let my mind wonder and then I got attached to my hand and top two and sort of let the obvious fall to the wayside.

So, there I was putting my money into the middle hoping for another A or K to fall because true to my instincts the other player turns over her pocket pair of 6's.

This is my first losing session since becoming a married man and it wasn't just a simple cooler that did it to me, it was my own stupidity, my own fishiness.  I know I should have folded and somehow I just couldn't make myself do it and my bankroll is several hundred dollars smaller because of it.

I guess the good news is that on my way to the poker room I won $5 at the craps table and on the way out I talked myself out of Tilt Playing Craps trying to make my poker money back at Dem Good Tables!!!

Don't Play Tired kids.  Pretty sure if my mental state was better I would have made this fold.
But, that's what fish do.  Fish get attached to their own hands and talk themselves into making calls because they are ahead.  Fish play tired and not in the right mindset.
Fish go home broke (most of the time).

May my next session be better!
Bankroll still around $1200