A great session, for more than one reason

I arrived at Northville Downs for what was likely to be a 3-4 hour session before meeting the wife and her family for dinner nearby.  I got there right at noon, and had to wait for about 20 minutes for the first game to start.  We started with 5 players, a then the 6th player arrived shortly thereafter.  That group composed the people involved in all of my spots/hands of the session.
I feel it was the best that I played in a while.  Maybe it was because my decisions weren't the most difficult, but you will see in one of the hands below I avoided getting stacked in a spot where I probably should.

The key players were as follows:

AYK:  Aggro young kid, you know the type, plays there a decent amount, thinks he's the best in the room.  The reality is that he could be decent, but because he thinks he's so good, he plays WAY too many hands.

Al:  Pseudonym for this guy, he's basically a major fish who I love having in my game.  He can really frustrate players with the hands that he makes, and the lines that he takes.  But I've noticed in playing with him that he has a critical flaw, that is amazingly transparent to me yet somehow nobody else.  He tends to overbet, or bet very large with a nut type hand, and tends to make small bets, and even extreme underbets when he doesn't have a strong hand.

Setting the tone:

The very first hand, AYK is on the button and straddles to 5, the blinds fold, and I raise 22 UTG/HJ to 20, as expected the button calls and we are HU to the flop.  The flop comes with 3 unconnecting overcards, I believe it was Q high, and I cbet 30 and he folds. 
I felt that it was important early on to establish an aggressive image, and not allow the AYK to take control of the table. 

First big spot

Playing about 225 deep, I open QQ after a few limpers to 15.  Al re-raises on the button to 50.  He bought in for 100, and just won a fairly big hand to get his stack above mine.  This guy is super loose, and very aggressive with pre-flop raises, but not particularly aggressive with 3 bets, especially larger 3 bets.  I considered all of my options.  Certainly shoving QQ couldn't be that bad against a fish like this.  I also considered folding, as the size of his 3 bet gave me some pause.  In the end I thought I could call, and gauge his post flop action to determine if I had run into AA or KK.  I called, and the flop came KK5.  I check, and he strongly bet 100.  I thought for a bit and stared at him and he told me:  "I don't have a king."  As an aside, at that point a player to my left asked what the rule was on talking during the hand, knowing full well that the rule there is no talking allowed.  I appreciated that the dealer said something to the effect of "There's some things I don't hear.", as I don't particularly like the rule, especially when I am getting information volunteered to me.  The dealer basically told him, probably wrongly per the rules of the cardroom, to basically mind his own business when he wasn't involved in the hand. 

I asked him if he would show and he said "Sure, why not?", and I mucked face up, he proceeded to show me AA, and I immediately felt even more strongly than I already had about the hand. 

Ace Magnets

A bit later I raise KK after a few limpers to 15, and get 3 callers, all OOP to me.  Flop comes As9s4s.  Checked to me, I'm pretty sure I had the Ks, and I bet 25, first limper shoves for 39 total, rest fold.  I make sure I have the Ks and call.  He has AJ no spades.  Board blanks out and I lose.  At this point I feel pretty good about the fact that I've lost with QQ and KK, and am still only down about $25, despite not winning any showdowns. 

Another one with Al

Al opens the pot first or second to act to 15, SB calls, and I elect to just call in the BB with JJ.  Flop comes king high, we check to him, and he bets 15, SB folds and I call.  Turn is a blank, I check, he again bets 15 (bet sizing!!!) and I call.  River is a K, I check, he checks and shows TT.  Maybe I should have gotten more $ on this hand, but it helped further reinforce my bet size read. 

I get rolling

UTG (young kid short stack) opens to 15, Al calls, and I call with 99 in the BB.  This may not be the best call, but I am not purely setmining.  There are plenty of boards and actions where I am willing to continue.  Fortunately I don't have to worry about that as the flop is Q95.  I check, UTG shoves for 60, Al quickly calls.  I then shove for about 170.  Al folds JT face up.  I turn my cards over and he says he is probably drawing dead.  I never saw his cards as I rake a nice pot. 

Bluff inducement

This hand I got creative as the hand played out.  For background, I saw Al raise a smallish river bet to 50ish on a stone bluff, and get called.  For this hand, I raised A6o to 12 in MP (which I hated immediately after doing it, knowing that Al was likely to call me in position).  We ended up HU to the flop.  Flop was QJ8.  I checked and he quickly checked.  I'm 100% certain he would bet here with anything that remotely connected to this board.  Basically any pair, any gutshot, etc....  Turn was another Q, making board QJ8Q.  I checked, he bet 15, and I thought about it and called, thinking I was good.  River was an A, now I lead out 15, in hopes of inducing a raise.  He doesn't disappoint, and raises to 51.  I call knowing that if he does have an ace, that we are chopping the pot since there is no way he AK here.  He mucks without showing, and I do the same after being pushed the pot. 

Biggest hand

I open UTG to 12 with AA.  I get called by Al, and another player, and then AYK 3 bets to 50 with another 200 behind.  I 4 bet to 125, 2 players fold, and the AYK thinks for a while and calls.  I am putting him pretty strongly on QQ or JJ here, with a very outside shot at AK.  Flop comes Ax9d8d.  AYK checks, and I think for a while, and decide to give him some rope here, with only a 1/2 PSB left.  Based on the action, a free card can't hurt me, and may give him a chance to push me off of the KK that I am trying to rep.  The turn is the Ad, giving me quads.  He checks his cards, presumably to see if he has a diamond, and then shoves.  Obviously I call and he shows JJ.  Immediately after this, which means he is down about 2-3 buy-ins, he switches tables, presumably to find greener pastures. 


The rest: 

Other than that, I played pretty solidly, continuing to pick up occasional pots with Cbets.  During that same time Al was on fire, picking up pots with a full range of hands.  The most egregious, though it was a small pot, was when he called a flop bet on a board of Td8x4d, with 7d3x, and went runner runner to make a winning flush.  He also called a flop bet with a gutterball, and then ran runner runner 2 pair to scoop another pot.  About 3.5 hours into the session, I got the call to leave, and Al was racking up as well, along with another player, essentially killing the game.

The best part of it all was that I was able to make over 2 buy-ins, while at the same time Al was able to run his 100 into over 1K, thus ensuring that money makes it back into the poker community.