Tough To Follow

Poker in August thus far has been very similar to June - a lot of pretty middle of the road results. This is ok with me, as while I do love the occasional big upswing, I've played 9 days on the month so far and have been positive off the tables for each.

Here's the closest thing I could find to an interesting hand from Thursday's session:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed)
MP1 ($100)
MP2 ($115.90)
MP3 ($94.75)
CO ($100)
Button ($100)
SB ($100)
Hero (BB) ($100.10)
UTG ($111.15)
UTG+1 ($138.80)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A♣, A♥
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $1, 4 folds, Button bets $3.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $13.50, 1 fold, Button calls $10

Flop: ($28.50) 7♠, 10♣, 5♥ (2 players)
Hero bets $15, Button calls $15

Turn: ($58.50) 3♦ (2 players)
Hero bets $22.50, Button raises to $71.50 (All-In), Hero calls $49

River: ($201.50) K♥ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $201.50 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button had 6♥, 7♥ (one pair, sevens).
Hero had A♣, A♥ (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Hero won $198.50

Villain is an FPP pro who can't quite beat the rake at 100NL FR, and doesn't like folding to 3bets. The UTG limper is a loose/passive fish running 31/4. I really hate his iso raise pre, as 76s plays great both multiway and with a high SPR, so overlimping is likely far superior. I 3b because the FPP pro reg only folds 45% of the time over a huge sample. Postflop, I don't mind his flop call and he picks up a gutter on the turn. Shoving the turn is awful though, as all he accomplishes is making A high that might bluff shove the river fold, getting snapped off by my entire value range.

After having so much fun my second time through Persona 3 (this time the recent portable incarnation) I had a hankering to start up another console RPG right away. My initial desire was to give Persona 4 a second go, but I decided against it for two reasons. First, it's only been a year and a half or so since I finished it in the first place, and second, as 3 is definitely the better game I fear following with 4 would be something of a let down, despite 4 being a great game in its own right.

So, instead of Persona 4 which I'll let sit for at least another couple months, I chose what I figure is the best game I've only ever played through a single time to have the dubious honor of trying to follow P3P - that game being Grandia 2. I remember my first time through the game being pleasantly surprised as reviewers had been very critical, suggesting it didn't come close to living up to the original (a game which I hold in very high regard and HAVE played through more than once). I however thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it at the very least gave the original Grandia a run for its money. Too bad there hasn't been a quality Grandia game since. Anyway, I'm three or four hours into Grandia 2 and remembering very quickly all the things I liked about the game - though there definitely is some downside I could see bugging people, which probably explains the harsh reviews.