[Sam T.]

Welcome, Kirk.

First, try to use the hand converter - narratives are harder to follow.

Second, you got your money in when you were ahead, and the villains drew out on you. Cards happen.

As for the specific hands:

Hand 1: This early, limp with 55 and play for set value. Raising won't chase enough people to make it profitable, and most of the time you'll have nothing but a weak pair. Monotone flops you gotta play carefully. You bet pot (probably more you need - a smaller bet will fold out most folks without a spade). The min raise is either "I'm on a draw and would like you to give me a free river by checking the turn" or "I got the nuts! I got the nuts!". I actually like the way you played it, calling the min-raise and getting it all in when the brick hit. You were better than 4:1 to win the hand, and he sucked out.

Second hand: Betting 2x the pot on a monotone flop is silly. You are only going to be called by hands that beat you. (Or a loose idiot like this one.) Unless the pot is really big in relation to your stack you could go your whole life without betting more than the pot it would probably not be a mistake. (In this case he may well have read the overbet as a desperate stab at the pot, and re-raised hoping to fold you out.) I probably fold here, but I suck.

For more on bet size, get yourself a copy of HOHI.

GL,

Sam