maniacs to your left - table selection

[Bodhi]

Anyone ever notice this? More frequently than what could be attributed to random varience, the first empty steat at a table you're waitlisting is to the right of a maniac. I think I lost around 5bb today because I wasn't cautious enough about seat selection.

[Argus]

That's a prime seat. Having a maniac to your left is pretty good because you can predict what they are going to do: bet or raise. This gives you relative position to the rest of the table, allowing you to act last more often than you deserve. Since the rest of the field may not respect the maniacs bets and raises, you can often check/raise the field with your strong hands. Be wary of players to your left attempting to isolate the maniac. Recognise if they are doing it and adjust your starting hand selection appropriately.

[hellite]

um. I think you want the maniac to your right. Then you DEFINITELY know what they are going to do because you have already seen the action. This is particularly true if you are a weaky /images/graemlins/grin.gif

I'll take a maniac wherever I can get them. I think there are adavantages having him to your right or left.

[pokergrader]

I would rather have a maniac to my left than to my right, but as the above poster said... Anytime im seated with a maniac its a good seat.

[chief444]

Playing OOP constantly sucks. So I'm sure it's no coincidence. One empty seat at a table is probably more likely to be at the right of loose opponents than at the left.

Honestly though, I don't really think it matters much if a maniac is on your right or left. I think there could be a very good argument that it's better to have a maniac directly left actually. Having the option of either trapping the field or facing the field with two bets every time is a very nice benefit.

[Hoi Polloi]

[ QUOTE ]
Playing OOP constantly sucks...


Honestly though, I don't really think it matters much if a maniac is on your right or left...

I think...it's better to have a maniac directly left actually. Having the option of either trapping the field or facing the field with two bets every time is a very nice benefit.

[/ QUOTE ]

On my left is my preference. Loose passives on my right and tight passives on my left is really sweet too.

In any case, the maniac at the table is always an interesting problem to solve. Your relative position to the maniac is the key to the solution.

[toss]

One advantage to sitting to the left of a Maniac is that you can pull off an LRR fairly often. You can also CR postflop in favorable situations.