Inconsistent play against psycho lag?

[Roadstar]

$1/$2 table at TGC. In generaly, at this level I see tons of aggressiveness, way more maniacal lags and more weak tight players and less pure LPPs to push around. Villain is a huge LAG, in fact he has raised preflop probably about 6 out of the last 7 times and raises the flop and the turn like theres no tomorrow. He does, however, fold on the river unimproved usually. Plays anything, seen him raise w/ 34os, QTos etc

Knowing this pls comment on the optimal line against this maniac:

Hero is in EP w/ A /images/graemlins/heart.gifK /images/graemlins/spade.gif

Preflop:
Folds to Hero who raises, Folds to MP3 (maniac) who 3 bets, folds back to Hero who calls.

(who caps here against maniac?)

Flop: 4 /images/graemlins/heart.gifA /images/graemlins/diamond.gif9 /images/graemlins/club.gif
Hero bets, MP3 raises, Hero 3 bets, MP3 caps, Hero calls
(the raise was "expected" but the cap? he could have a wacky 2 pair, I can't really see any other realistic draws)

Turn: A /images/graemlins/spade.gif
Hero bets, MP3 raises, Hero calls
(I'm afraid his Ax just became a boat so I called, should I 3 bet this or would that be reckless?)
River: Q /images/graemlins/diamond.gif
Hero Bets, MP3 calls
(ok I thought of check calling, but somehow I still feel I have the best hand (does this mean I should have 3 bet on the turn?), also, the maniac usually stops his insanity at the river)


Pls help! I'm trying to adapt to $1/$2 (for clearing the bonus only and then back to .5/1 for another 6,000 hands before I dare try $1/$2).

[Kasumeat]

Against a maniac, cap all the way bro.

[Malcom Reynolds]

Based on your description, you should cap every street for value. Cap preflop, flop and turn and river. Your hand beats almost anything a maniac has here.

Also, notice your inconsistent play. On the turn, you fear a boat, but then suddenly think you are ahead on the river. Well, which is it? If you think he has a boat, call down. If you think you have him beat, keep raising. When you are playing poker, you have to make a plan and stick to it. You can't change your mind in the hand.

[Kasumeat]

[ QUOTE ]
You can't change your mind in the hand.

[/ QUOTE ]

This seems silly to me. If I have good reason to think that my first impression was wrong, I'm going to change it.

[Milky]

Cap PF w/AK EVERY SINGLE TIME against a maniac. Hell, you should be capping most of the time with this hand anyway!

Cap the flop, turn and river. When you get a piece of the board (especially TPTK-turned-trips) you need to be betting the whole way for value.

[Malcom Reynolds]

If I have good reason to think that my first impression was wrong, I'm going to change it.

Okay fine. If you screwed up, then you are free to try to fix things on a later street.

What I mean is that between calling the turn raise and acting first on the river, he has gained no information. And if he is putting his opponent on a boat, he has to make a decision on the turn and stick to it. If his read is that his opponent has a boat, most river cards are going to be blanks. So he has to decide on the turn if he is going to fold or call based on odds to draw against the range of hands, or raise because he thinks he is ahead against the range of hands.

Since hero acts last on the turn but first on the river, you really need to decide up front what your plan is. It's reckless to say "I'm behind, I call" and then with no added information suddenly say "wait no, I'm ahead, I bet."

[droolie]

Super Alpha Maniacs who raise every hand every street are perhaps the easiest players to play against.

This is what I do and it works very well. (Only against a 80/60/10 type player though. If he's more selective this play is riskier)

Wait until you get a premium hand (AK more than qualifies) then raise pf to isolate the maniac. Then raise and reraise and cap every street until the river. As long as you're isolated the cards on the table don't matter. You really shouldn't even factor them in until the river because the maniac isn't. Just cross your fingers and raise baby. Your calling standards will have you winning well more than 50% of these confrontations. If you can deal with losing 6 BIG hands in order to win 10 BIG hands (you should be) this strategy will work just fine in the long run.

Whatever you do never fold! The betting from these guys means less than nothing no matter how scary the board is. Their game relies solely on getting their opponents to fold. If they win at showdown that's just a bonus for them. I can't tell you how many times I've won with a four flush on the board when I was convinced the maniac had to have at least one of those suit and I had none. When you enter a hand with an uber-maniac be prepared to see it through to the end. The only street I don't cap 100% of the time is the river. I will usually reraise then call if he's still coming back at me. The reason for this is villian will often raise the river then fold to a reraise if they have nothing but will 3-bet if they have something.

[Roadstar]

You guys are right, I should've been more aggressive throughout (and not stop at the turn). Villain shows JTs /images/graemlins/laugh.gif. I think my "looking for monsters under the bed syndrome" at the turn was because I just lost to a quad over boat (THIRD one in 2 days) and the villain, a couple hands back, actually had something when he went crazy (his only hand when he had something in the past 6-7 hands I bet).

[ QUOTE ]
The only street I don't cap 100% of the time is the river. I will usually reraise then call if he's still coming back at me. The reason for this is villian will often raise the river then fold to a reraise if they have nothing but will 3-bet if they have something.

[/ QUOTE ]

How'd you know /images/graemlins/cool.gif? I actually seen him fold to a 3 bet on the river (3 bet coming from a "normal" player)

[cbfair]

I've already seen the results, but I'm pretending to not know them. I also get that you know you were seeing monsters under the bed, but I hope to contribute a valuable perspective anyway.

[ QUOTE ]
... Plays anything, seen him raise w/ 34os, QTos etc

Knowing this pls comment on the optimal line against this maniac:

Hero is in EP w/ A /images/graemlins/heart.gifK /images/graemlins/spade.gif

Preflop:
Folds to Hero who raises, Folds to MP3 (maniac) who 3 bets, folds back to Hero who calls.

(who caps here against maniac?)

[/ QUOTE ]

Always cap AK except against the most predictable rocks (<12%VPIP/<3%PFR)

[ QUOTE ]
Flop: 4 /images/graemlins/heart.gifA /images/graemlins/diamond.gif9 /images/graemlins/club.gif
Hero bets, MP3 raises, Hero 3 bets, MP3 caps, Hero calls
(the raise was "expected" but the cap? he could have a wacky 2 pair, I can't really see any other realistic draws)

[/ QUOTE ]

You already said he plays and raises with nearly anything, forget about the "wacky two pair" and cap.

[ QUOTE ]
Turn: A /images/graemlins/spade.gif
Hero bets, MP3 raises, Hero calls
(I'm afraid his Ax just became a boat so I called, should I 3 bet this or would that be reckless?))

[/ QUOTE ]
"Plays anything" has now become "his Ax just became a boat". If you know he's a psycho lag, then you are playing against a random hand and you will win a huge majority of the time. CAP!

Bet and raise the river too. You are so far ahead of a random hand that it is just criminal to get passive against this particular player. Sure he'll suck out sometimes and you'll remember that for a long time, but cap, cap cap is +EV on every street of this hand.

[Shillx]

Goto war preflop, on the flop and on the turn. There is just about no way he has you beat until maybe the river if he filled up with AQ.

Brad

[jogger08152]

This idea that you should not change your mind mid-hand is erronious and costly. In this instance I happen to agree that you don't sweat boats against maniacs, but as far as forming an impression and sticking with it, Emerson's remark, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds," is right on the money.