Anatomy of a downfall

Hoping to do well at league night, I sit down and play tight. Starting with 10k in chips, I fluctuate between 11k and 9k for a while. Then...

Raise with 66 from MP and I get called from the player on the left. The rest fold. Flop is 843. Good flop for a pair of sixes. I decide to check raise. I check, player bets 1k (pot size bet). Hmmm, I follow though and make it 3500. She smooth calls. Well, now I know I am behind. But how far. The turn brings a 2 and the 3rd club. I contemplate moving in, but decide based on the strength of the smooth call and the pot size, she would have to call. Not deep enough to bluff here. I check and she checks behind. The river pairs the 8 and I check again and she puts in a low value bet. OMG, she has a monster. I fold and am out half my stack. (She flopped a set, checked the flush board and rivered a boat.)

So now with a half stack something weird happens, the blinds are up around 300/600 now and I have 5k in my M=6 stack. The UTG limps! now what I noticed at this table is that after two limpers, no one but me even "punished", so everyone would just limp along. and me with 9Ts. ok, I limp and 3 others do. 5 see a flop of TTx. Utg bets, I shove. rest fold. UTG limped with... KT!? NEVER saw that play coming and I lose with trips over a kicker. IGHN.

I found that spot hard to deal with, I had the blinds in two hands, and thus I could say that I could raise there with 9Ts for a steal, stop and go. But with only 5k, and my raise to what, 2k? I am committed anyway. But 5k was ridiculous as a raise... or was it? (I think so). I think I played it decently, so I guess I chalk it up to a difficult hand coming to a short stack. UGH no matter how you slice it.

so, today I'll play online and smoke some ribs in my new smoker... and try to let it go...