Frustration turns to success at the Chuck...

I went and played a little 1/2 at Charles Town as I've been wont to do on Thursday nights.  It started out nicely enough; I was at a mostly loose passive table,  the 2 gamblers to my right and the more passive players to my left.  I built my starting stack up from $200 into $400 in short of an hour before I left for dinner with my buddy.  This was the kind of night I needed, given the variance that I experienced last Saturday - KK into AA, AK into QQ, etc.  Nothing irregular, mind you, but a lot of losing end on the coin flips can drive you insane.  So I come back from dinner and notice that a person I haven't seen in over 5 years sitting across from me at the sitting at the table - my old Tae Kwan Doe instructor - who I had no idea knew how to play poker.  Other than him, the table hadn't drastically changed.

To make a long story short: I get sucked out on with AA vs. QQ vs. my buddy, AI on the flop - turn Q natch - down $200.  I get sucked out on my SB when my 72 hits two pair on a K high board against a limped AK who CANNOT lay down to a shove on the turn (my long-time buddy had KJ which was folded on the turn) and now I'm down $400.

My final $200 in play, and I watch a fish go on a massive heater and what I'd like to call "win tilt."  He started by calling a $50 3bet with 33 and flopping 3's full of 6's to get it all in against the AA 3bettor and a 77 overpair who could not lay down, for a $800 pot, and continued with another hand which escapes me.  He starts raising nearly every hand to $17 plus & I could sense the table start to tighten up & catch him.  I caught a few pieces of him when I called a $15 bet with A4hh and flop a Q high 2 heart board.  He leads for $25, I min raise to $50 and he calls.  As on the turn and I lead for $75, hoping for a call and he folds.  I proceed to take a few more hands, building my stack back up to over break even...  prolly around $700 when the following happens:

KK in the SB and the whole table limps.  I raise to $35 with my fish in sight...  and it works; he calls $35 on the button with a limp.  His stack has dwindled from a peak of maybe $1200 to approx. $600.  The flop is 3 7c Qc and I lead the safe flop for $45, wanting him to call anything that he may have had preflop but limped (which essentially rules out most Q's and pocket pairs...  yeah, he's raising a wide range but included in that range is 22+ and broadway).  He flats.  There's about $170 in the pot and I lead a turn 8 for $85.  He calls yet again - $330 in the pot.  The river is a Q and I check, hoping he'll represent the rivered trip queens.  I realize fully that there's almost 100% chance that he's never limping broadway hands here; there are very few Queens in his range.  But, as planned, he leads out for $175 and I think for a few seconds before snapping him off to see his 7 5o.  Nice ending to a 6 buy in swing night.

Lesson learned:  When I was down 2 buy ins, coupled with Saturday's performance, I took a walk for a bit to think things over and confer with the friend I had driven up with.  There are two questions to ask yourself when you're running crappy: Am I at a good table?  Am I playing my A game?  The answer was "yes" to both of those questions & I proceeded to stack my opponents.