Draws and beats

Hi guys.

Please let me know if this is in the appropriate part of the fora...

I wanted your collective wisdom about a couple of beats I suffered on draws

A bit of background:
I play on PP, PLHE for the past little while and have managed to turn a small profit. This is over a relatively small number of hands (a thousand, give or take), so I'm pretty inexperienced. However it seems like I've been able to break roughly even against skilled players (largely by avoiding them!) and picking on the fish.

With my bankroll slightly engorged I thought I'd try NL/$25... and suffered the following:

Code:

***** Hand History for Game XXXXX *****
$25 NL Texas Hold'em - 
Table Table  XXXXX (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 9 
Seat 4: player 4 ( $33.80 )
Seat 5:  player 5  ( $20.85 )
Seat 9: player 9 ( $17.96 )
Seat 10:  player 10 ( $24.60 )
Seat 3:  me ( $13 )
Seat 1: player 1( $47.30 )
Seat 8: player 8( $51.90 )
Seat 7: player 7( $19.20 )
Seat 6: player 6 ( $24.75 )
pplayer  posts small blind [$0.10].
player posts big blind [$0.25].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to me [  Qs Ks ]
player 7 folds.
player 8  folds.
player 9 calls [$0.25].
player 1 raises [$1].
me calls [$1].
...rest fold...
player 9 calls [$0.75].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4s, Js, 2d ]
player 9 checks.
player 1 bets [$1.75].
me calls [$1.75].
player 9 raises [$6].
player 1  calls [$4.25].
me calls [$4.25].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8h ]
Player 9 is all-In  [$10.96]
player 1 calls [$10.96].
me is all-In  [$6]
** Dealing River ** [ Jc ]
Player 9 shows [ 2s, 2c ] a full house, Twos full of jacks.
Player 1  shows [ Kh, Kc ] two pairs, kings and jacks.
me doesn't show [ Qs, Ks ] a pair of jacks.
Player 9 wins $9.42 from  side pot #1  with a full house, Twos full of jacks.
Player 9 wins $37.40 from  the main pot  with a full house, Twos full of jacks.

From what I observed:
Player 9: tight
Player 1: tight, quite skilled

Obviously player 9 sucked out. Other than a possibly marginal call on the flop (and I thought there was a good chance that player 9 would call), what did I do wrong?

On the flop:
- I didn't try too hard to put player 1 on a hand... thought probably a pair.
- looking back I played this hand passively. but should I have raised on the flop?!

Here's another:

Code:

***** Hand History for Game XXXXXX *****
$25 NL Texas Hold'em - 2005
Table Table  XXXXX (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 10 
Seat 4: player 4 ( $21.05 )
Seat 9: player 9( $50.82 )
Seat 3: me ( $8.40 )
Seat 7: player 7 ( $15.35 )
Seat 6: player 6 ( $21.75 )
Seat 8: player 8 ( $41.45 )
Seat 2: player 2 ( $21.90 )
Seat 10: player 10( $25.50 )
Seat 5: player 5( $13.05 )
Seat 1: player 1( $25 )
Me posts small blind [$0.10].
Player 4 posts big blind [$0.25].
player 1posts big blind [$0.25].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to me [  Ad Jd ]
player 6 calls [$0.25].
player7 calls [$0.25].
player 8 calls [$0.25].
Player 9 folds.
player 10 calls [$0.25].
player 1 checks.
player 2 raises [$2.10].
me calls [$2].
Player 4 folds.
player 6 folds.
player 7 folds.
player 8folds.
player 10 folds.
player 5 folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6d, 7c, 5d ]
me bets [$3].
player 2 raises [$8].
me is all-In  [$3.30]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5c ]
** Dealing River ** [ 4c ]
player 2 shows [ Ah, 8d ] a straight, four to eight.
me doesn't show [ Ad, Jd ] a pair of fives.
player 2wins $1.70 from  side pot #1  with a straight, four to eight.
player 2 wins $17.40 from  the main pot  with a straight, four to eight.

In the second instance, was the raise on the flop the right size? Should I have gone all-in instead?

It did occur to me that AJ(s) might be up against some high pair, but I figured I'd have a decent chance to see a good draw and maybe get paid.

I guess my question is this: I have overcards (granted, against a pretty big preflop raise) and what should be the top draw. Player 2 was relatively new to the table.

Was I just unlucky that he hit one of his eight outs?

Thanks in advance... again.

It's late and maybe I'll write more tomorrow but one really obvious thing: Don't call big raises with AJ. And don't EVER call raises with AJ in junk ass position like you are in in the second hand.

1st hand: you were up against a set of 2s. Plr 9 did not suck out, he played for set value and hit it big. Your play seems OK as you were getting pot odds along the way for a K-high flush. I wouldn't have raised the flop there.. you played it fine.

2nd hand: fold pre-flop. Most of the time you will be facing a strong hand wit that raise - AJ is too easily dominated to play there. Wait until you get AK or better to trap the maniacs.

Originally Posted by DimitriT

1st hand: you were up against a set of 2s. Plr 9 did not suck out, he played for set value and hit it big. Your play seems OK as you were getting pot odds along the way for a K-high flush. I wouldn't have raised the flop there.. you played it fine.

2nd hand: fold pre-flop. Most of the time you will be facing a strong hand wit that raise - AJ is too easily dominated to play there. Wait until you get AK or better to trap the maniacs.

to add to what dimitrit said about hand 1 .. soon as the board pairs, its not worth calling large raises with a draw as it could be a dead draw.