playing against a super-maniac

I almost exclusively play heads up at pp and have been a consistent winner at the 3-6 level for the last 8 months.(about 2000-3000 a month) I seem to have the most trouble against very aggresive opponents. I understand that with these types of players your swings are going to be larger but my question is how to play these opponents. Should I play back at them just as aggresively or tighten up and play better hands and check-call more. These are very aggresive opponents who arent afraid t raise and reraise the turn with nothing after i raise the preflop and theirs A K on the flop. So what is the best way to play these guys.


Also I thinking of moving up to 5-10. How tdo the games compare to the 3-6 level and what do you guys think a good banlroll would be.


Thanks in advance


Billybob

In HU games, the difference between an idiot and a very skilled HU player can seem very slight.


Against tight ring-game players, it is correct to play like a maniac (within reason).


Read the short-handed section of HPFAP. You have to frequently re-raise and hopefully trap him sometime for a large chunk of his stack. HU, to me, is all about which guy is playing scared.

It is interesting that you are making 3000 a month, and cannot answer this question yourself. How many hours do you play? Is a big part of your game opponent selection?


"or tighten up and play better hands and check-call more."


This definitely will not work. They will put a read on you. Unless you check-call bluff, and then check-raise bluff. But then, the whole point is how you define "aggressive." Aggressive doesn't just mean raising more. It means raising more, and increasing the texture and reactiveness, and unpredictability of your play at the same time.


I think you are just getting outplayed, and to call it "aggressive" is to miss the finer points. Plus, it might be a good tip to simply avoid these aggressive players, which will be both to their liking and yours. They just play you to teach you to stay away, not to butt heads while paying the rake!


Gosh, I don't know what to say. Just picture yourself playing perfectly. And then raise enough extra to disguise it. One area where aggressive players might be finding a few bets against you is on flop check-raise patterns. Focus on your flop play, and the rest will fall into place. The reason he can outplay you on the turn may be because you give up too much information on the flop.


I'm lost.


eLROY

What does HPFAP and HU stand for?

Hold Em For Advanced Players & Heads Up, respectively.

Its all about changing gears.


If you play against a super-maniac, then every so often when you have a monster, or know you have him beat, give him the rope to hang himself with. Let him bet your hand. Then switch it up next time.


HU is not a game where you have the best way to bet a hand with a given board or opponent. Its about having lots of styles for offense and defense, and constant switching between them. Never play the same type of hand the same way twice against the same opponent.


And--- of course... if the guy is just pumping bets at you and it is basically a card catching contest. LEAVE. Live to play another day. You are better off up against a weaker player that you can dominate and control easier.

Very helpful info. here... if you are the same guy who plays at paradise, you definitely know what you are talking about.


Andy

"And--- of course... if the guy is just pumping bets at you and it is basically a card catching contest. LEAVE. Live to play another day. You are better off up against a weaker player that you can dominate and control easier."


If the guy is just pumping bets at you, it doesn't have to be a card catching contest. Tigthen up, and you'll have a big edge over him if he's just mindlessly playing loose/aggresive.

I disagree. You can't "tighten up", in the traditional sense, during a heads up match. You will find your self losing very quickly. All of your blinds will dissapear, and any "tight" playing means you will give him every pot until you catch something big... which gives HIM a huge advantage. You need to be more aggressive to win.


The best advice- like i said, is to leave. If you have to ponder the question "What do i do with this guy just blasting bets at me?" Then you are being outplayed and you are throwing your money away. Play someone below your level.. otherwise you have a negative EV.


The whole point, as Russ stated very well, is to know who has the best hand *more often* than your opponent. You will lose many. But not as many as him. You will be at the river with A high. But only if you believe you have a better hand based on his betting patterns and history. Keep changing your style so he never can accurately know how strong your hand is, giving you a positive edge NO MATTER WHAT THE CARDS ARE.

I could go on forever....

You can go on as much as you like as what you write is very interesting.


What I wrote was something like "if your opponent is mindlessly loose/aggressive you can profit just by tightening up". Of course "tight" is relative. Tight in heads-up doesn't mean nearly the same thing as in a ring game. But if you are playing tighter than your opponent, and he's just trying to run over you regardless of what cards he has, if you play tighter than he does, you'll be playing better hands than he does and will clean up. Of course, "tight" doesn't mean unsoundly throwing away so many hands that your opponent can win just by betting. If your opponent is just firing off bets regardless of what he has, you'll easily make up for the blinds you lose by folding by all the extra bets he's giving you with garbage afterwards. You could just play as a calling station and win with this strategy if all your opponent is doing is playing every hand and betting.


The situation you describe appears to be much different than "mindlessly losse/aggressive". If your opponent is deceptively aggressive to the point that you don't know what he's doing, then I certainly agree with you. It shouldn't take long to figure out whether someone plays better, worse, or about the same as you do. If you're playing to make money, then you should leave anytime you're not sure your opponent is worse. But just because someone is blasting away bets doesn't mean you're being outplayed and should leave. If you don't know what the heck your opponent is doing, that's another story.