I moved over to nl cash games from limit just to try and add another dimension to my game when I go on TILT playing limit. I'm playing really small stakes 10 max buy in .5/.10 blinds. It's been a great learning experience for me but I ran into these two situations that maybe you can help with me. Granted I don't have the hand anaylsis that I can paste here but you can get an idea an maybe help me.

AK I raise pre-flop and flop top pair with a board of K, 5, 2. I bet the pot. He calls. A blank comes on the turn and I bet the pot again. River card comes another blank and he comes over the top. I'm already comitted at this point and I get cracked by a set of 5's.

Other hand I have AQ and raise pre-flop and board comes Q,Q,8 apparantley you know where I'm gonig with this. I check the flop and it gets checked around. I bet half the pot on the turn when a blank comes and get one caller. River comes and it's a blank and I over bet the pot which at the times was 2 so I bet 4. This guy comes over the top for 7 and I'm push all in to get cracked by a boat 8's full. I know this is kiddie stakes but learning at a lower stakes is a great way to improve my game and work my way to the higher ones. I know this is an old school way of explaining things but maybe any insight would help.

At these stakes, you're just going to have to chalk those losses up to bad luck. Don't worry, when it's the other side of the coin, you should have no trouble getting paid off with your big hands.

Not sure if NL cash games are the best way to cope with tilt though. They make me tilt more than probably any other form of poker out there.

2nd hand, ure NEVER going to get away from. Ever. If you do, you're playing too weak tight.

1st hand, you gotta assess somewhat, what your opponent is calling with here. Of course, I dont get away from the hand either, considering KQ or KJ might be doing this, especially at these stakes.

I think the only time you can get way from TPTK, or a garbage board, is when stacks are very deep, and you get reraised twice+. But at these stakes, it usually will never occur, and you will be far ahead most times.

Learn to fold 1 pair for the first hand.

You cannot get away from AQ on a QQ8 board, this is true, but at the same time you did not need to push on the river (if I'm reading your story correctly). Generally speaking, unless your opponent has shown some really horrible tendancies, you should not be pushing with less than the 2nd or 3rd nuts on the river.

There was a time, maybe 18 months ago, where almost anyone with a set at 1/2 or below would call the flop bet and raise the turn. This no longer seems to be the case. I think more often than not people are smallish raising the flop and hoping the other person pushes (A la Doyle and Daniel in high stakes(which I just got dont watching again)).

You gotta watch the pre flop action (i.e. did they limp call), assess their raising range and figure out where players do raise their sets. Without the information you are guessing whether its a flush draw or a set, something I have been caught with before.

So far as your hands, you shouldnt be going broke with tptk BUT on the QQ8, it aint even a thing man. Just take a deep breath and ante up again.

At 0.05/0.10? I agree that there are a lot times where you have to fold TPTK at higher stakes, but I think at this level, hero's ahead way too often to fold to a river push. (Unless they're deep-stacked which is also doubtful in this kind of game.)

My advice always is, when you hold a good (but not great) hand like tptk, control the pot size. Win or lose smaller pots.

Think about it like this: The bigger you bet, the bigger a hand someone needs to stay in with you with. So if you find yourself at the river, and your whole stack is in the pot with tptk, and someone else has decided their hand is worth their whole stack, chances are you're behind.

Mark