Long Time - Little Pokering

Yeah, yeah - I know... I've been delinquent in my blatherings about my exploits. But the truth is that I've had very few exploits to discuss - and those that I have had haven't been that great. I've been playing so infrequently that I'm making dumb mistakes and losing $$ from my poker drawer; which makes me want to play even less; which means that I fall even further 'out of practice', etc...

Anyway, since last I posted, I've played $60 NL at the Chu, 1/2 NL and 2/4-3/6 Limit in Vegas and at the Chu, and some 4/8 Limit on the Avenue here in Ventura. All of which have generally been losing sessions. Yeah, I'll win some, but the trend in the poker drawer is mirroring the economy => crappy. I haven't counted it recently, but I think it's in the $1,500 to $1,700 neighborhood.

Like the pain of childbirth, I've forgotten many of the hands I've played, but a couple from recent ventures stand out:

1) My buddy Darryl and I went to the Chu and got seated at the same table (me in seat 2, him in seat 5) and we'd been there a for while. I was up a bit (~$90) and a youngish guy moved to seat 1 from a busted $60 NL table nearby - he had about $130 and was fairly agressive. He'd been there for about 15 minutes when I picked up 2c2h in the SB and called the $6 of his $7 raise - along with 2 other limpers. Flop is a lovely 2s, 8d, Td - to which I check (hey, he's the aggressive one, I'll let him bet it). He does as hoped and puts out $10. I raise it to $30 cuz I don't like flush draws - the limpers fold and he ponders, "huh, you raised that pretty quickly... I call." Turn is the Qc and he moves all-in - I'm pretty sure I'm ahead (unless he's got queens or slowplaying a set on the flop) and I call. He flips over the QhTh, and the river is the Js, and I'm happy.

2) From a recent outing at the Chu... last hand of the evening, I'm short stacked, and I've got 99 from UTG - this is the best hand I've seen in 2 hours so I raise it to $7 in seat 3. Seat 4 calls, seat 6 calls, seat 7 calls and the BB calls. Well, so much for respecting the UTG raise. Flop is 2h, 6s, Td - BB checks and I bet $12 of my $25 stack (which was dumb, the pot had $35 in it and I should have just moved in). Seat 4 calls and everyone else folds. Turn is the 8h, and I push my last $13 in - and seat 4 calls. I say, "If you've got a ten, you're good." and flip the nines over. River is the Qh and he flips over the Jh6h for the flush. I just stare, I can't believe that someone would call an UTG raise with J6 suited in early position, and then called the flop bet with bottom pair and a back door flush draw - wow! I just get up and leave - I was sorely tempted to say, "I should buy back in, cuz those chips aren't going to be yours for very long." - but I didn't...

I've been trying to stay away from drawing hands when I'm heads-up. Most people get out of the way when the 3rd straight card hits or the 3rd diamond lands - and it's tough to get your draws paid off in these situations when you do actually make your hand...

Anyway - the wife is taking me (or, actually, she's allowing me to take her) to Vegas for my B-day in 2 weeks. I'll report back after that.