The waiting is the hardest part.

I just got back from a trip to Kentucky to visit my relatives and was fortunate to get a few hours away to head to Harrah's at Metropolis, IL on Monday and play what is unfortunately becoming a more rare game of poker for me. I always look forward to playing at Metropolis since the play is very fast and very loose. Unfortunately, going into this trip I had never won here, in part because I spent too much time trying to take control of the table (a tactic that has served me well in AC and Vegas and to some extent here in Raleigh.)
I went over with $400 available figuring the game would be $1/$3 NL with a $50-300 buy-in but was surprised to find that on Mondays it was a $2/$5 NL, $100-no max. So my plan of buying in for $200 flew out the window and I ponied up the full $400 to sit at a table where the average starting stack was about $800. (Noone over $1200 thankfully.) I figured I would play ultra tight but for hand one I had AQ offsuit, and opened the pot for $20 in middle position. Much to my surprise everyone folded to the big blind (Whom I will now refer to as Sarge for clarity) who made a begrudging call and dark checked.
I missed what was a well-coorinated flop (J 10 8 with two clubs I believe) and checked to to see the turn. A 2 came on the turned and he piddled a $10 in which I called. I was willing to toss those chips to get a gage on the temperment of the table. The river came a blank, and I called another $10. He revealed a 5 2 claiming the small pot, but the info given and sent was well worth it to me.
I then sat and waited for two and a half hours as Sarge (in seat 3) and "Bud" (in seat 10, I was in seat 7) started a raising fest which slowed the game to a grind but produced alot of massive pots. Every once in a while I'd open with a raise with AJ suited or AQ, but was usually chased by Bud raising and Sarge and maybe one other player calling. I tried to take opportunities when I had position on Bud and Sarge to see cheap flops, but kept missing. After two and a half hours I had dwindled down to $218 in front of me so I broke a promise to myself and sought the ATM for a quick $300 refill.
Two hands after this refill I had A 10 of hearts. Sarge made his standard opening raise, he was opening for a raise in 60% of the pots. One guy called, then I called and seats 8 and 9 (Iceberg) called. Bud who was pretty shit-faced at this point and was raising every hand regardless of what he held, bumped it up to $75. Everyone called including my only lapse in discipline on the day, although at that table it was a strong possibility that A x suited would be the best hand against a raise and a re-raise. The flop then came. 10 10 10!!!! Jackpot! Finally time to cash in! Everyone laughed when they saw the flop but me, until I started to force a giggle out hoping that everyone was too sauced to observe that tell. Sarge and the guy to my right checked. I checked. Seat 8 did as well. Then Iceberg (I call him this because his boats ran into icebergs all day) expelled two black chips. It folded around to me and then I went into a 5 minute "think" trying to sell a low pocket pair. Meanwhile the whole table was openly kibbitzing about my hand. After moving all-in seat 8 folded and Iceberg got a sick look on his face knowing he had to throw away $240 to see my ten. He made the call immediately after Sarge mentioned my Ace high call down from the first hand and immediately mucked his pocket Kings. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good I reckon. This hand propelled me to $1350 after the tip. I then spent an hour and a half folding with an occasional "cheap flop" (Less than $40.) when I could get one.
Then came my last hand. I had pocket 10s and once again Sarge raised to $20. The guy in Seat 5 was playing very tight and called. I too after really thinking about it, decided to call; a decision that saved my ass for certain. Bud who had $900 in front of him at this point, then raised again to $75. Sarge called, and Seat 5 went all-in for $425 more. I then flashed my hand to seat 6 and said, "Anyone else here but him." and pretty quickly mucked my hand. Bud then called and Sarge bowed out. Bud showed his pocket jacks after the 9 9 3 flop, and after two more rags came out, I was stunned to see seat 5 muck his cards without showing.
At this point I conveniently reminded myself that I was going to dinner with my grandmother and slinked away from the table up $550 despite only winning one hand in four and a half hours. If you're willing to sit and wait there is alot of easy money on the Ohio River. (Harrah's Metropolis; Aztar Evansville, IN; and Caesar's New Albany, IN)