Moved up to $50NL 6max, got a couple of "iffy" hands...

[djoyce003]

hand 1 is soooooo bad on so many levels.

Headsup your hand might be good and I realize that. If I am in a similar hand against a villain that is decent and i suspect he is on whiffed overs and just making a continuation bet, I'll smooth call the flop. Then he will almost always check the turn, you can bet it and take down the pot. You didn't elect to do that, you made a crappy minraise. Repeat after me, "fish make min-raises, we don't." If you make a raise, make it a real one that is difficult to call. That way, when you make a reraise with a set he'll think you have a little pocket pair and you'll get paid off with it.

Once you made the min-raise and got called....for god's sakes, CHECK BEHIND WITH THE OESD. You have a pair of fives, which are almost certainly behind after he called the raise. You've now picked up a very strong draw and you have a chance to see the river for free.....take the free shot at making the straight. It is criminally bad to make a bet when you've picked up a strong draw that will give you a win but a raise will force you out....you did exactly that.

hand 2 - pot the turn, you've gotta fold that river, you are behind. Villain probably slowplayed a set on the flop, got burned on the turn, then filled up on the river and thinks you'll call the massive overbet.

[c_strong]

Hand 1: No one's mentioned this so far, but I'd give serious consideration to folding this to the preflop raise. The raise to you is 5% of villain's stack, so it is on the borderline between "clear call" and "use your judgment". You have the 4th worst pp, which makes it that little bit more likely that a set will get cracked if you hit, and more importantly there are two players yet to act. A squeeze play is unlikely at this level but someone slowplaying a big pair isn't. This is doubly true if you can't let it go if you don't hit your set on the flop. Villain raised from EP into 3 players so probably has a decent hand - you have to fold the flop.

Hand 2: I'd bet $5 on the turn - like you said you semi-bluffed the flop, and part of the reason for this is to get paid when the flush hits. Bear in mind another club will kill your action. Good laydown on the river.