Playing against a guy who raises every hand and every street

[Cory Neely]

A maniac, I know, but I played with him for about 5 hours online last night and couldnt win a pot. I know in the long run his style of raising every hand and every street will make him go broke but this guy came to a 2/4 table on party with $50 and left with about $250. I would try to avoid him but I would get AK, JJ, AQ... beat 90% of the time by me not catching anything and him capping it with mid or bottom pair. I tried to loosen up a bit and play slightly worse hands than I normally would like 89s in early and k10 in mid, you know what I mean and that didnt work. I wasnt trying to just focus on this guy since there were some really juicy players at the table that seemed to be the only way I was making money but he was in like 80% of the pots raising preflop etc. Next time I will just leave. Although I made a bit of a profit it wasnt as much as I would of made without this guy at my table.

[djoyce003]

Actually it's very easy to play against this guy. You shouldn't loosen up your standards, you should tighten up. If he's on your left, don't limp with typical limping hands because you know he's going to raise. If he's on your right, wait for good hands, reraise him and isolate. Then you have to call down againts him if you don't improve because you know he's betting with nothing at least some of the time. Pretty standard. I played with a guy like this on a 6 max party table...he was 93% vpip with 93% pfr. He actually only lost about $50 or $100 in a half hour then left.

[Niediam]

I agree that you should be tightening up a little. Read the applicable section of HEFAP for more on how to play verses this type of player.

[Wally Weeks]

[ QUOTE ]
I agree that you should be tightening up a little. Read the applicable section of HEFAP for more on how to play verses this type of player.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've found that the basic strategy in the TOP chapter entitled "Loose and Tight Play" to work for the loose aspect. In loose games, the general idea is to tighten up on bluffs and semi-bluffs while loosening up on your legitimate hands. This advice covers the loose part...as for the aggressive part, as someone else said, don't be afraid to put in bets to reduce the field and to call raises from this player more often.

Remember, in loose aggressive games luck plays a larger role but your EV should be positive if you adjust your play accordingly. It definitely can be frustrating with the swings but your bankroll will tend to head upward.

Also by loosening up, I don't mean playing hands out of position like KTs or 89s. Playing those hands constantly in early position are -EV. Sure, you've got to "spice up" your game so that you aren't completely predictable, but don't overdo it. Go ahead and throw in that occasional bluff on the end or a semi-bluff but don't go crazy.

You also might want to check on the appropriate section in Al Schoonmaker's book The Psychology of Poker for more general guidelines on loose aggressive players and games.

Regards,
Wally

[Niediam]

Not that I disagree with anything you said... but this thread is not discussing loose games. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Wally Weeks]

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Not that I disagree with anything you said... but this thread is not discussing loose games. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

You're right, perhaps I'm over generalizing. /images/graemlins/blush.gif

[kidcolin]

I don't think tightening up a whole lot is that necessary. Maybe just cut out some borderline hands. I think in order to get the most value out of a maniac, you need to get a little risky yourself. Don't be afraid to splash some chips around, even when a board is potentially scary. My biggest killing to date was against a guy like this in a 5/10 6max game. He murdered it for a bit because everyone else got so thrown off. Pretty soon he donated about 40 or 50 BBs to me. Just push the really strong hands, and if you're unsure with a mediocre holding (say 88 on a T 9 2 board) don't be afraid to call down.

[CORed]

Loosen your starting hand requirements only slightly. If you can isolate, you can reraise with hands like AJ, AT and KJ, and pocket pairs down to 88 or 77. If the whole table goes on tilt in response to him, tighten up a lot. If it's going multiple bets preflop with multiple players, stick to big pocket pairs and suited broadways. Suited connectors aren't very good here. You want hands that can win unimproved or with a top or second pair.

Post-flop, call down with mediocre hands like middle pairs and top pairs with fair or bad kickers if you are heads up. With top-pair good kicker or better, go to war. With two-pair or a set, cap on every street if you can.

Something to watch for with a maniac in the game is that you don't get so focused on him that you forget to consider other player in the hand. If you're not careful, you will stay in with a mediocre hand that is better than the maniac's only to get beaten by a third player.