playing 5,2 offsuit

This happened last year, but I was thinking about it this morning. I made a dumb play, got lucky, then made some good plays and won the pot.

I was in late position, playing $4/8 hold 'em. I was stuck about $100, and on tilt. I wasn't hitting any flops, and when I did have a good hand, I was getting beat by crap hands. It happens, but I wasn't dealing with it well. Rather than stick to my game plan, I reverted and said, They beat me with those hands; I'll play those hands.

So I was on the button with 5,2 offsuit. A bad hand. the action was folded around to me and I limped in. The small blind raised, the big blind folded.

Now, I am kicking myself for limping in, but, of course, I called.

First miskake is calling with 5,2. Second mistake is calling AGAIN with 5,2.

But I had been playing with the raiser for about 2 hours. I knew that for him to raise from the big blind, he had AA, KK or AK. Maybe QQ. But his most likely hand was AK. And he was an unimaginative player. I had a very good read on his play.

Flop came Q, 7, 5. He bet, I raised. He called. If he had re-raised, I would have folded, putting him on an overpair or a set. From playing with him, I knew that he only raised when he had top pair or better.

Turn was 4, he checked, I bet, he called. If he had check-raised the turn, I would have had to fold. But I hadn't seen this guy check-raise, and he just wasn't the kind of player who check-raises (he wanted to be liked; check-raisers aren't liked).

The river was a 9, he checked, and I turned over my hand. He pitched AK face-up into the muck.

I don't know if he would have called with Ace high if I had bet, but I doubted that he would.

There was a lot of focus that I had called pre-flop with 5,2 (though, after he raised, I was getting better odds to play it, even though I still should have 1) never played it; 2) folded for the raise).

I won $28.

There are a few lessons here.
1) Even good, tight, disciplined players sometimes play crap.
2) Mixing up your game is necessary. I got great action the rest of the night because they all thought I played junk.
3) Reading your opponents is the key to the game. If he had read me as weak and re-raised or check-raised, he would have won. If I had had no idea how he played, I would have had to fold to his flop bet.
4) Raising on the turn can yield information. My raise on the flop helped me to define his hand.
5) Chasing with overcards can get expensive. He was getting a pretty good price to draw to beat my hand, even if I had held a queen. But, while AK is a powerful starting hand, it almost always needs to hit the flop to win.

But the biggest lesson should be: Don't be results oriented. If you play 5,2 -- suited or unsuited -- expect to lose your money. It's a bad hand. While I got lucky that time, I haven't played it since. And won't play it again!