It was fun to sit down at a poker game again.  The game sure got more aggressive since I last played with this bunch.  A lot more money floating around too, which is a good thing.  You can actually make some decent money at these games now.  There was a new guy there who's been playing with the group for about a month now and I guess he's running over the table.  Everybody kept on telling him wait until TK gets back, can't wait to see that clash, blah blah.  There was so much anticipation for the two of us to sit at a table together that you KNEW it wouldn't live up to the hype.  In fact, I think we played maybe 2 or 3 pots together the whole night and they weren't even very big at all.  On top of that, when I hear that so and so player is good/solid, my first instinct isn't "Oh, I better get this guy."  Instead, I'm more observant with any pot he's involved in even if I'm out of it.  I look for tendencies, why he's killing the game, and look for good situations to get involved.  I don't intentionally go after a "good" player or any player really.  I happen to notice he plays NL very well.  Very aggressive but selective.  He definitely likes to go after dead pots (pots where no one claims and just checks to the player in LP).  9 times out of 10, if it gets checked to him, he's making a play at the pot.  He makes strong plays when he has big draws and thinks you're weak.  Puts other people to tough decisions.  All good ingredients for a good NL player.  I'll get plenty of chances to play with him in the future so I'll get a chance to judge his skills and see how my game matches up.  I LOVE competition because that will only make my game better. 

I took some pretty tough beats when a guy hit an inside draw on me on the river when I bet it the whole way with top pair.  Another beat was from a guy holding J7o calling a raise and reraise out of position when I was holding AK and he caught a J on the turn.  I wasn't happy with my play obviously since I didn't cash out ahead but I also wasn't dissappointed.  I played somewhat of a tighter image but I wasn't really getting any cards.  I mean, I don't think its a good idea to call big raises with gapped unsuited cards out of position.  Those were the type of hands I was getting all night. 

I was glad to get back playing again.  I'm considering a 1/2 session Friday night so we'll see how that goes.  Until then!

TK