Disconnected

Been disconnected from online poker for most of the past week, but not fully disconnected from poker. In a strange twist, I've found myself playing a good amount of live poker lately. I've been squeezing live sessions in by pushing them late into the evening, starting around 10pm when the homestead is starting to ease in for the night. This has made for some rough days following late-night poker sessions, but it has been worth it.

Being able to play in these live 1-2 games with buddies (usually David, Stephen, or Scott) is really the difference and what makes it worthwhile, since having someone to chat with and sweat out hands helps me overcome my biggest weakness in moving from online multi-tabling to the slooow full table grind - patience. Of course, I also love talking strategy at the table with my friends. I realize it is generally a big no-no, since it gives up a ton of information - how well I understand the game, my take on certain situations, etc. But, if you've played live, you know that it's nearly impossible to whisper to a neighbor quietly enough that no one else can overhear you. And it looks sketchy to be constantly whispering directly into someone's ear while sitting at the table and my draw outcries from other players. So I've decided I'm willing to give up a little edge in order to stay entertained and keep a discussion going with a friend.

No matter how much I mumble about strategy with friends, I doubt it will do much to improve the play of guys like one I played with early this week. I was at a 1-2 game with 2 friends, and all 3 of us managed to score huge pots, all in somewhat tough spots, all against the same maniac.

I had the benefit of watching both of my buddies make correct hero-calls against this guy before it got to my turn. Both times, he raised pre-flop, C-bet, checked the turn, then made a big bet on the river. Both times he was on a pure bluff and got caught.

One final piece of history. I played one hand with this villain in which we saw a flop of 7-7h-Th, and the villain made a donk-lead (he wasn't the PFR), I called with 8h-9h. He checked offsuit 8 turn, I bet and he folded. He told me after the hand that he had A2, and thought he could take it on a scary board. Nice to know, thank you very much.

Here's the relevant hand:
I have ~$290, villain covers me.

I get 56o and limp from MP. LP guy with big stack raises to $12, Villain in SB calls, one other EP player calls, and I make the loose call.
I was trying to see a lot of cheap flops, hit something big, and stack somebody. The table was limpy enough that I think this was a good approach.

4 way flop comes 4-7-K rainbow.
Villain donk-leads from SB for $25. I call and everyone folds.
I almost raised here, but thought I might prefer a bigger pot with a few more players, in case I hit one of my decently well-disguised OESD outs.

Turn is a 7, putting 2 clubs up. Villain checks and I check behind.

River is an Ad. He takes his time before counting out $75 to bet into a $100 pot. I have about $175 behind, and after about 10 seconds, I shove it all in. Villain instafolds.
I honestly think he had no hand-reading skills, and put almost no thought into my actions. I thought my shove would like like 44/A7/K7, but I doubt he gave it that much thought. He would again admit to having complete air.

It felt nice to make the kind of move that I never have the guts to make, and have it pay off. That's the kind of move I would almost never make online, so chalk it up to live feel and read, which is something I never thought I'd practice enough to really develop. But extra time on the live felt has me feeling a little differently about it this week.