Playing better, losing bigger

Well, this month's total is now hovering somewhere around $9 loss, but I'm feeling fairly positive. I had a fun session on Monday where my friend Steve came down from the big leagues to play on the same table as me and give me some tips. To put it in perspective, the maximum buy-in on the tables I play on is the cost of a small blind at his usual level.
Anyway, with a bit of help from Steve, something finally clicked in terms of the betting. I'm being a bit more agressive with placing bets, so that I'm properly rewarded when called, and win a greater number of pots when my opponents are hesitant by taking them down on turn. The downside to this tactic is if my opponent sticks it out and hits something at the river, I lose a lot more than I would have done previously! The session with Steve ended with me losing a good chunk of money when the guy hit a flush on the river after I'd been ahead through the flop and the turn.

Tuesday I did manage to turn a small profit. It was just $0.60 but it felt good because I felt I'd really worked back up from low down (just $1.56 left from a $5 buy-in) to achieve it. I'd gone in and been a little loose and unfocussed at first, which combined with a new more agressive betting style meant I dropped money fairly quickly. Once I tightened up though, I felt a lot better, a lot more in control of each hand than I normally have. Just by assessing when people are not confident in the hand and putting in a small bet rather than checking I was able to arrest the usual slow bleed that I normally suffer from that eats away my money.

There's a couple of hands I'd like to put up for analysis, that nag me because I don't think I played them well. But I'm out of time for now, so they'll have to wait...

UPDATE:
Okay, here was one hand that bugged me a little.

#Game No : 6139485895
***** Hand History for Game 6139485895 *****
$5 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, July 10, 16:04:02 ET 2007
Table Table 126410 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 8
Seat 5: e_r_c ( $3.91 USD )
Seat 8: Black_Code1 ( $5.84 USD )
Seat 9: Cruzephyx ( $5.56 USD )
Seat 7: Oskaron ( $5.06 USD )
Seat 6: vatai_b ( $4.75 USD )
Seat 2: gabbyka ( $4.75 USD )
Seat 1: cbpoker75 ( $5 USD )
Seat 4: mad223 ( $4.83 USD )
Oskaron posts small blind [$0.02 USD].
Black_Code1 posts big blind [$0.04 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to e_r_c [ 7s 8s ]
Cruzephyx folds
cbpoker75 calls [$0.04 USD]
mad223 folds
e_r_c calls [$0.04 USD]
gabbyka has left the table.
vatai_b calls [$0.04 USD]
Oskaron calls [$0.02 USD]
Black_Code1 checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9s, Jc, 5d ]
Oskaron bets [$0.16 USD]
Black_Code1 folds
cbpoker75 folds
e_r_c calls [$0.16 USD]
vatai_b calls [$0.16 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 4d ]
Oskaron bets [$0.32 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.32 USD]
vatai_b folds
** Dealing River ** [ 6s ]
Oskaron bets [$0.57 USD]
e_r_c calls [$0.57 USD]
Oskaron shows [ 9c, Ad ]a pair of Nines.
e_r_c shows [ 7s, 8s ]a straight Five to Nine.
e_r_c wins $2.34 USD from the main pot with a straight, Five to Nine.

The table I was on was pretty passive, so I thought it was worth limping in and seeing what turned up. From the flop I had outs for a straight on any Ten, any Six and runner,runner on a flush. The turn nixed my flush draw, but I still had outs for the straight so I called to see the river and hit my hand. What bugs me is that I then just called the guy's bet. At the time I had some kind of vague worry that he had a higher straight than I did, but looking over it again I see how unlikely, or in fact impossible, that is. There's no reason for me not re-raising that bet.


UPDATE 2:
Played another session on Thursday night, and ended it $0.77 up. I didn't have any regrets with the way I played, the only thing that grated was again I always seem to hit a big hand when everyone else has junk. I get AA and put in a modest preflop bet, and everyone folds. I hit a straight flush, and everyone's already ticked the 'Fold to any Bet' button.
Most annoying though, I limp in with A2o, and turn the straight. I put in a bet and finally get some action. The river drops a 2 and the guy gets to split my pot because he's got an Ace!

Anyway, I've got into the habit of calculating my outs, but not yet got the knack of properly translating it and comparing it to the pot. My plan is to go back through the histories of my bigger pots, and retroactively work out whether I made the right call. So wish me luck with that, as I shake off the dormant part of my brain i once used to do maths with...

This month's total: -$7.97