He's a maniac, MAniac I know-ow

[SoBeDude]

And he's winning.

Three times I've played with a maniac. Three times I've seen the manic make the money. Twice live, now once online.

In this last situation, Maniac was raising preflop with anything that looked like a hand to him, including naked ace, nearly ANY two suited, and unsuited connectors. Anytime anyone raised, he reraised or capped it.

Three times I saw him showdown with ace high, betting all the way to the river. (twice he lost)

I also saw him rake about $220 in profits off of a 2-4 table in about 2 hours. how's that for BBs/hour?!

Funny thing, is I think several at the table including myself adjusted properly to his presence.

I tossed away the little pairs and medium SCs, but when I did play, I tried to punish him by re-raising.

One hand in particular:
I have KQ in MP. One limper to me and I raise. Maniac re-raises, limper calls, I cap.

Flop comes 8 Q 2. check, I bet, maniac raises. limper folds
I reraise, maniac caps.

Turn tosses a Q. I'm quite happy, sure I have the hand.

River was a blank. We cap it again.

He shows me Q2o for a full house. (I wipe away the tears)

The previous time I saw a maniac was at a live 10-20 table.
I watched this kid raking pots with flushes holding 27s and the like.

He took almost $2,000 off the table in 3 hours. I broke even. He put two very good regulars on tilt too.

Now I'm having a hard time believeing he was just "lucky", and that the only other two times I've played with a maniac that they were just "lucky" too.

So for me, the score is: Maniacs 3, rest of table 0.

SO, my thoughts are there MUST be a time when its right to be the maniac. Is this possible? I think there is a "game condition" where the maniac has an advantage.

Any thoughts?

-Scott

[pudley4]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I think there is a "game condition" where the maniac has an advantage.


[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, in a weak-tight game, the maniac can run over the table.

[SunTzu68]

SoBe,

It isn't being a maniac with AK (just kidding, couldn't resist.)

However, I've played agains my share of maniacs both online and in B&amp;M and I have seen them get lucky but most of the time they lose their shirts. One hand absolutely put me on tilt....It was a 20/40 game in a B&amp;M cardroom, and one maniac turned 5 others at the table into maniacs also (it spreads like a disease). I was dealt AA in late position and the preflop play was capped with 4 people in. I don't remember the cards exactly except that there was a K on the flop with two garbage cards, and the flop was capped as well with one player and myself remaining (I was still feeling pretty good about my hand). The turn was a blank, and it was capped as well. I knew what the next card was even before it was turned over, sure enough a K hit the board and the other player said 'I'm not even going to bet into you' and I checked as well. He was holding K7 off. I got up from the table, got my wife and walked out.

I'm not relating a bad beat story to make you feel better, but rather to advise you to just get up and leave if it is going to affect your play. I was still up for the session, but I knew I was on tilt and didn't want to lose my shirt.

Playing with a maniac will give bigger swings in both directions, but most of the time it is very profitable to play with one if you adjust.

[SoBeDude]

I honestly don't think he put me on tilt.

My whole attitude was "cool! I can't wait to get the cards and take this chump's money!"

Perhaps if he had stayed longer at the table I could have got some of his flow (and some of mine back).

It just seems odd that every experience I've had is that the maniac made the green.

Now I KNOW three times isn't a statisticly significant sample. But it just got me thinking that against the typical table, perhaps their way is good.

Think of the pros of this:
1. make a lot of money
2. put the good players on tilt.
3. lots of "action" and fun of playing many hands.
4. intimidate the whole table, which leads to more of 1 and 2

I just think that as we look at tables as a whole, if we can identify the right table, the maniac style of play could be a significant money maker.

Just tossing the idea around, looking for input. I'm not about to try it...yet.

-Scott

and hey! leave my losing AK hands out of it!

[SunTzu68]

Scott,

I have no doubt that maniacs have streaks that they make alot of money, and they will be do better at certain tables and situations as others (such as shorthanded). I also think that you may be sort of kidding with this post because I have seen you play, and your a better player than that.

In response to your post:

Think of the pros of this:
1. make a lot of money
-They have bigger swings, but as a rule they loose alot more money than they win. For a good profile of this type of player pick up the book 'The Psychology of Poker'.
2. put the good players on tilt.
-They usually don't put good players on tilt. Good players adjust to them and usually walk away with their money. The example I gave was at the tail end of playing for over 10 hours. I wish I could say that I am a strong enough player never to have my play affected by going on tilt, but at this point I have to admit to myself that at times it affects my play and it is smarter for me to get up from a table.
3. lots of "action" and fun of playing many hands.
-It is alot more fun playing in this manner. If your end goal is to have fun, this could be your style.
4. intimidate the whole table, which leads to more of 1 and 2
-This style of play does intimidate some players, and those players should stay away from this type of game. However, most players with experience are not intimated and take advantage of these type of situations.

Good Luck Scott.

[SoBeDude]

Well since I can't ever rake a pot with AK, I'm trying to figure out *something* to do to win! (Inside joke)

But I'm actually I'm not joking with the thread. I think IF its true that there is a correct time (proper table conditions) to become the maniac, then we'd be remiss in not adding it to our playbook.

Big *IF* there, I know. Thats why I wanted to discuss it here, see what others thought.

-Scott

[SunTzu68]

Scott,

A maniac plays super loose aggressive all the time (even when circumstances don't warrant it). There are times to loosen up a little bit (but not as many times as alot of people would seem to think), and times to become even more aggressive (on a super tight table, or against weak/tight players). But I know who you play against online, stick to tight and aggressive...it is the only formula.