05- 3-04, LearnTexasHoldem:

Beating A Maniac

Question:I play in a regular no-limit game which includes 2 maniacs. We track our games and by every metric one of these maniacs has the best numbers on every dimension. The other one would too if he didn't get drunk and tired and give his money away when he felt like leaving during the last game. The rest of us try to play pretty tight and don't play hands that are commonly understood to be weak. However, another thing that keeps us from playing hands is the constant calling/raising/reraising of said maniacs. I suspect that we should be challenging them more but from my perspective these guys have an unnatural ability to draw golden hands after calling with crap. I would think that their calling tendency would backfire when met with strong hands but for whatever reason they seem to come out about even in heads-up play. What's the best way to overcome the maniac?

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Answer: That's a good question. I'll list a few points below to help out:

* Aggression in no limit holdem pays. You need to think about why this guy does win in your game. It isn't because he is any luckier then anyone else. I'm sure he loses a fair share of pots. My guess is that when he does actually win a pot, it is a huge one since someone against him assumes he doesn't have much. Or he could have just got lucky that one time and got paid off by someone married to a big pair (AA, KK, etc).

* To combat a really wild player you need to think differently then you normally would against regular players. Not adjusting your style based on other peoples play is just bad poker. You need to beat them, not play well. There is a difference. If you know someone is in every pot then to beat him you don't need great cards, just decent cards.

* Don't get stuck in the strategy that you'll wait for a big hand and then sting him. For example, you'll wait for AA and then raise him big on the flop or something. You won't win by playing like that with him and often times you'll lose more of those confrontations then you'll like. What you need to do is play more cards against him. Hands that wouldn't be so great are probably monsters against him (KQ, KJ, AJ, AT, QJ, etc). You'll want to avoid playing suited connectors and little pocket pairs (56s, 33, 78s, etc) since those take a big flop to be worth continuing. You would much prefer holding a suited ace instead of a little pocket pair against him.

* It is going to cost you more to play in a game with a guy like this. The pots will be larger and you'll be invested more in each one. This is a good thing though, not a bad one. You want people throwing their money away.

* Be prepared for more swings. You will get nailed by him a now and then and that is normal. He is going to catch some cards and win (both good and bad).

* It can be frustrating if he is always raising preflop and you call and hit nothing on the flop and then just fold. That is fine though. It will come back given enough time. I would even throw in some calls on the flop now and then if you are in latter position then he is if you think that if you hit your overcards they will be good.

* Another thing to watch out for is that often times this type of player can put everyone else off their game. Everyone will be making moves that they wouldn't consider doing against another player. Here is an example. Let's say you have AT and the flop comes back AJ3. He raises preflop and then bets on the flop. You raise him and then he reraises you. To make a long story short he actually does have a good hand this time AK or JJ and you pay him off. This illustrates the point about how he wins. I mentioned above that you need to play more cards against him -- pretend like his preflop raises mean little or nothing. But don't forget that he will have good hands too. You don't want to pay him off everytime. This is why I recommend that unless you have a spectacular hand, just play fairly passively against him. Let him bet it down and you just call. You'll play hands differently against maniacs even if you are fairly sure you have them beat. Another example is you are in last position and the two gunners are in before you. The flop comes back T43 with two clubs. You have AT again. Now normally if the first person bet and the middle person called you would raise to put pressure on the flush draws. Here though I probably wouldn't and the reason is that they are very likely to reraise.

Summary: Play more hands against them (KQ, KJ, AJ, AT, even QT and KT if you'll just be against him). Don't be afraid to call them down (sometimes even with middle pair if you think its good). If you can get away with just calling in a situation where your hand isn't that great, then do it. You'll make your money from them by playing slightly better hands then they do and folding losers, not by waiting for AA and KK all day.

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