[7stud]

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In 7CS4AP Sklansky recommends that if your opponent catches an ace on 4th street you should check behind him.. Here it worked to perfection

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Hmm...I'm not so sure about that. The reason you check behind them is so you don't get checked raised on 5th when the betting limits double. Your check forces a hand like Aces up to quit slow playing and take the lead in the betting on 5th street. As a result, when your opponent leads out on 5th street, you can just call, saving yourself from the check raise and having to put in an extra big bet when you are behind.

In this hand, you checked behind your opponent on 4th, but then he checked again on 5th street. What conclusion can you draw from that? Well, naturally you would assume that you were actually ahead on 4th street when your opponent caught the Ace, and that you ended up giving your opponent a free card, and since you don't want to do that again, you'd better bet. But, it looks like your tricky opponent might have figured out what you were thinking, and he might have decided if he checked again on 5th, you would probably bet, so he check raised you--getting back his missed 4th street bet plus another small bet.

Your hand on 5th street was a pretty obvious two pair(you reraised with a queen up on 3rd street), so when you got checked raised on 5th, it wasn't a good sign. I think if the hand had played out "according to the book", you would have either:

1) lost to Aces up, but saved yourself a small bet(your 4th street check) plus a big bet(avoiding a check raise on 5th) when the Ace led out with Aces up(savings = 1.5 BB), or

2) won the hand when you were ahead with your Queens on 4th and your opponent couldn't draw out on you, and he led the betting from 5th street on or he checked at some point and you took over the lead, with the result being you cost yourself one small bet on 4th when you checked behind him(cost = .5 BB).

The authors never mentioned the possibility you ran across: a tricky opponent that checks again, and when you take the lead, he check raises you. So, you can pencil in a 3rd possibility in the margin next to that passage:

3) tricky opponent checks again when he is leading, and when you bet, he check raises you (cost = .5 BB).

You can see the problem playing against an Ace. They can either decide to lead the betting or slow down at any time, or as you experienced: fake slowing down and check raise instead.