[nate1729]

I'm not sure I like the river bet in the first hand. From what you've described I'm not sure you can get him off a 9 there, yet he'll have a hard time calling with hands like AA or 88. Normally I like blocking bets but I'm not sure this is a great spot for it. Checking leaves you in a tough spot, but I'm not sure it's much worse than where you are if you bet (indeed, if you have a good read on this guy you might be able to induce a bluff.)

Oh, and any particular reason you raised to 80 preflop? For value against a guy you thought was gunning for you, perhaps?

I like your line on the second hand. I like the call on the river, as I don't think you can fold for 200 more, yet it could easily be a value-bet from AK or a blocking bet from 44 or 55. I also like your not raising the turn, as it's hard to imagine you can extract much more money from a worse ace that way, and you can easily put yourself in a tough spot against a tricky player here.