An actual poker update

I had a long weekend at my parents' and I must admit that it was nice to just do nothing for a few days as well as trying to 3 table on their pc since it helped me to remember how fun poker could be - it seems that poker players have a short memory regarding the validity of poker as a means to derive enjoyment and to some extent relaxation when they are running badly. On Monday night I actually ended up playing a 3 hour heads up match against a pretty solid player and even though this was one of the longest and hardest matches I've played in a while I really enjoyed it, my feelings about it may be slightly biased because I ended up 3 buyins against him but I can honestly say that it was fun and really characterized what poker is to me: firstly a means of enjoyment and mental stimulation and secondly a way to make money. Personally whenever I seem to focus too much on the money aspect I dont enjoy it as much but I also find myself playing worse which can lead to a vicious cycle.

Anyway this is meant to be a hand related update so I'm going to get through some hands now and then I will probably have to post again in a little while since I have a HU match with colin in 15mins. I played for about 1 hour 15mins at crypto and party at 500nl and 600nl mainly playing 5 tables.

Btw it seems that pokerhand.org is back up.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1133795
This hand I was planning on checking the turnand then value betting the river since my opp seemed a bit weak-tight who might fold an ace on the river if I bet 3 streets so I thought I could make more money by checking the turn then potting the river - a line that looks much more like a bluff plus gets more value anyway because I can't really bet pot on the turn here because it looks too strong. He bet anyway so obviously I have to call, raising is an option because he looks/is pot committed but it seems a bit spewy against this player, I think I need to shove the river though because he probably checks behind all his 1 pair hands.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1133803I'm quite proud of this hand to be honest and I derived real enjoyment in making my river bet - how sad am I? PF and flop are pretty standard, its 4 handed and an aggressive player raises my BB from the button so I 3bet and make the obligitory cbet, on the turn I have to check because I can't represent the T or the flush that well and even if I had either of them I would have to check anyway because thats how I would play them if I hit them (the majority of the time anyway). On the river I thought that it was pretty likely that he had middle pair type hand like 88 or 98 that had showdown value but couldn't stand much action because if he had a strong hand he would raise the draw heavy flop and if he was floating me then the turn gave him the ideal chance to steal the pot - which he didnt take. Now bear in mind this is relatively early on in the session so my image is still pretty decent (ie not overly aggressive) so I make a fake blocking bet bluff to represent an overpair looking for value. The beauty of this bet is that a) it looks so unlikely to be a bluff because I'm offering such good odds on such a dangerous board that a strong player must fold quite a few hands.

Its HU time now so I'll finish the rest of the hands later.