Weirdness at Lucky Chances

Fun little session last night. Played for a lil over 2 hours, and dropped $30, so no big bankroll affects. But I learned some things about my poker playing development.

1) I can sometimes pick off a bluff. My first two big pots came when I caught big bluffs on the river. On the first hand, I held a pair (10s) with a 7 kicker and called a $40 bet into a $30 pot. The guy turned over a 10 and a 4. On another hand, I held A9 and flopped top pair, bet out on the flop and the turn, where I got check-raised. Called that, and the guy river bet $40 into the $40 pot with the board threatening both a flush and a straight. I studied, then called, and the guy showed his low pair before mucking.

2) I'm starting to effectively exploit my own bluff opportunities. As I was gettin' ready to pack up, I was down $100 and felt I needed to grab a coupla pots before leaving. I did, through well-timed bluffs. Both times, I smooth called an aggressive bettor pre and postflop, then made a move on the turn. I always thought the turn was the best bluffing round, as it doesn't feel as desperate as the river bet. And it's a good way to sell a hand like two pair. The smooth call on the flop indicates that you caught a piece of the flop, then the big bet or raise on the turn suggests that you either hit another card, or have been slowplaying the whole way. These two bluffs got me almost back to my initial $200 stack.

3) I'm a complete idiot. It's embarrassing to admit, but I made the rookiest of all rookie mistakes early in this session. It's how I got lowstacked to begin with. I held the Ace and 8 of hearts. Flop comes J-6-6 with two hearts. One player bets aggressively into it, and I call, hoping for another heart. I'm kinda hoping he has a 6 in his hand so I can extract some real money out of him when I hit my flush. Instead, another 6 hits on the turn. Now the guy checks, and I check behind him. A 3 of hearts hits on the river, he checks, and I bet into it! For some reason I think my ace-high flush is good. Stupid. Obviously, he has some kind of full house at least. He pushes all-in and I realize how much of a moron I am. I muck, and he shows the fourth 6. It's horrifying to think I'm still capable of making such a dumb-ass move after playing so much poker. I was playing my cards, completely blind to the situation, the board, my opponent. Just dumb dumb dumb.