Royal flush, but not much money

Eight hours of play netted a loss of $80. Our regular home game host left for Vegas and the World Series today, so I was nominated to run the game while he's gone.

We had 25 players show up for our $130 one-rebuy tournament. I made my first royal flush, winning (wow!) about 1,500 tournament chips. I limped UTG in the first level with KJh. Everyone folds, and the blinds check. Flop AJT with two hearts. Sweet. Check, check, I bet 100 into 150 pot, call, fold.

Turn Qh. Check, bet 200, quick call. River blank. Check, bet 1000. Snap-call. He had AK for the straight. Why couldn't this be in the cash game with him having a flush or making a full on the river of something?

Build up from 4,000 to about 9,000, and we break down to two tables. 100-200 with a 25 ante. Three limpers, and I raise 1,000 more from the big blind with AQo. Second limper calls.

Flop is a desert, 974 rainbow. I dutifully bet 1800. He thinks, adjusts his ridiculous sunglasses and iPod, and goes all-in for about 6000. I muck. He is a new player who had seemingly been playing pretty tight. He might have flopped a set. Hard to believe he just limped behind with JJ or TT, but I guess weirder things have happened.

So that took a chunk out of me. With 15 players left, I am moved to balance tables. 150-300, 25 ante. UTG makes it 800, late position cold-calls, I call 500 more, getting more than 4-1, with 65. Flop pretty good, 765, but with two hearts. Check, raiser quickly goes all-in for more than 7,000.

I call my money off, pretty sure he's just protecting an overpair, but he a better hand to go against mine, AJh. Turn A gives him more outs, river 7h, so he beats me both ways (bigger two pair and nut flush). I take my position on the rail.

Start 2-5 pot-limit. Fold for a while, win one nice pot when I flop a set, but lose it back and then some when someone flops a set against my AK on a K82 rainbow board. Have about 200 when I reraise an opener to 65 with JJ. He goes all-in and covers my last 130. I don't like it at all, but I call. (I'm getting better and better at doing that.) He has QQ, and I don't suck out.

I buy back in and play, I think, pretty well. In the most important pot, I call a raise in a multi-way pot with 66. Flop is an interesting 542 with two hearts. Raiser loudly bets, "Pot!" for 95. All fold to me. He seems weak, and if he does have the overpair, I should have an escape hatch of six outs. I go all-in for about 450.

When he hesitates, I'm almost sure I'm good. He doesn't like to give up a pot, and he tanks for a while, talking about how I probably just have a draw. He finally folds, and I am about even again.

The game gets shorter, and most of the remaining players are reasonably tight. Big pots are tough to come by. I steal some, get caught a couple times, and finish up $50 for the session. My $130 tournament loss leaves me down $80.

On to Tuesday, which is usually our biggest game of the week.