All_In

Cheers All ! I am new to the forum, and its a pleasure to meet you guys. I would like to post ask your opinion about the rather traumatic experiences I had in my recent Vegas trip, both with KQ s (spades). I lost an entire buy in each time ($300 each in a 1-3 and a 2-3 game).
Hand 1: $2-$3 at the Horseshoe
Relatively quiet game. UTG+1 raises to $10, lojack (old conservative guy) makes it $35 and I look down at KQ s on the button (starting stack $300 ish effective). I dont like calling big raises with KQ (to avoid exactly the kind of situation thats going to unfold) but I called because it was suited and I had position (and I also expecting the UTG+1 guy to complete which he didnt). Flop comes Q-x-x rainbow, and he bets $60. I have a bad feeling about this, but its ridiculous to fold this on the flop, so I call. II have about a pot sized bet left. Turn comes an offsuit 2 (or something of that sort) and he quickly shoves (around $180-$200) which is what I had. Now I am at the top of my range (maybe absolute top if you leave out A-Q) and I am getting 2 to 1 on my call but I still dont think thats a good enough reason to call, because this player on this spot is almost bluffing: I was almost 100% sure he had aces. Still, I called and hit a K on the river ! I still lost because he actually didnt have aces, he flopped a set of Q's ! and I was drawing dead on the turn ! What do you guys think my bigger mistake was, preflop or turn ?
Hand 2: $1-$3 at the Venetian
Same effective starting stack, but unlike the other game, this was super loose and splashy. I think there was a straddle, which a couple of people limped, before the button made it $35 to go; which is actually not that big a raise if you think about it. Again I look down at K-Q s but this time on the small blind, which makes it a little different than the last hand. I considered 3-betting but it would have to be a lot, and I didnt think I was deep enough. I considered folding too, to avoid situations like the previous one, but called anyway. Sure enough, 3 more people called behind me, so it was about $175-180 in the pot. The flop comes Q-J-2 rainbow again. I lead out $45 (1/4th pot) and the following was my thought process : i) If I check and it gets checked around to the original raiser, he would probably c-bet a larger amount, which I would have to call without knowing what the other 3 behind me were going to do. I would have to play a larger pot without knowing where I was. And if gets checked around, then my hand, which has a decent chance of being the best on the flop, would very likely get drawn out on the turn against 4 opponents. By donk betting, I would have a better idea of where I was in the hand; because of that particular sizing; any hand that has me beat (set /2 pair/overpair) etc would have to raise me; flatting would be too risky against such a large field. If got raised, I was going to fold !
Anyway, the guy next to me quickly called and I put him on a smaller Q (maybe A-Q sometimes) and everybody else folded, including the preflop raiser who I put on Jacks or Tens (I was right on both counts, by the way). The pot is now $270 and change.The turn comes a 10 and I am not too happy about it; (even though A-K is not a very likely holding for my opponent who didnt 3-bet pre, Q-10 and 8-9 s got there). Still, I felt like I would have to make some kind of a defensive bet, so I bet $55 and he immediately jams about $190-200 ish. Now I think this is where I should have folded. Even though its only $150 ish to call in a huge pot (around $530 after his bet) I still dont think I am good here enough times. I was almost certain he had Q-10, I called anyway and thats exactly what he had. (by the way the pre flop raiser had 10-10 and would turn a set). No K for me on the river, and lose an entire stack again.
Other than getting slightly unlucky on the 1st hand and very unlucky on the second, I also think I made mistakes on big spots (obviously the turn, but maybe elsewhere, too) ? I am asking your opinion because big pots (in relation to small stakes games) seem to be all I lose these days, and thats not a good thing ! Need to fix this leak :)
Thanks guys