I was sitting in a $500 buy in no limit game with a stack of roughly $700. A younger conservative player opened the pot for 7x the bb ($35) i gave him credit for a pretty good hand but called with 77 for a possible huge pot. the bb also called. 3 handed to the flop with $110 in the pot. The flop comes A Q 9 rainbow. The bb checks, the preflop raiser bets $30... Now this is the time for a decision. I felt that although his hand was better than mine, it wasn't good enough -- why would he bet so small with those draws.. I raised the pot to $90. Although i am an aggressive player, my table image at the time was pretty solid. After a bit of hesitation, the preflop raiser called. The turn brought the 8 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] this card brought a flush draw and made a j 10 straight. Preflop raiser checks to me and i bet $150. I want this bet to look like protecting a big hand as well as a large value bet. My opponent picked his cards up off the table and showed the player to his right and said im sure he floped two pair or a set... A strange thing happened though, he decided to call. When i made that bet, i said tomyself that if he went over the top i was done, but if he just check called i could win the pot. The River brought the 4 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. He checked and i bet the remaining 300 in his stack. He looked sick to his stomach and just couldn't believe it. sure enough after a 5 minute display of every facial distortion imaginable he said those words a bluffer hates to hear... "you got me... I call" in a very dejected tone. He had A K off suit. I said hell of a call kid, i wished everyone luck and i walked away. On the drive home, i couldn't decide if i made a bad play or not. My only mistake in the hand in my opinion is not folding on the flop, but i believe that what determines the winners and losers in the long run is not aces and kings, but how we play those mediocre situations. I am not looking for moral support, I simply think it is an interesting question. Let me know what you guys think...