Playing against a habitual, "have-you-no-shame?" bluffer

[SoCalPat]

I'm in a $10 NL tournament at Paradise. Three seats to my left ... well, I won't call him a maniac, but he overbets the pot consistently, and often with the flop having just nicked him.

OK, he's a maniac.

He's gotten a couple of suckouts, because he's the chip leader. He's also used that stack to take down several small pots. But in the end, it's just us two. With him at about a 4-1 advantage, I'm dealt AJo in the SB. I raise, he re-raises and I go all in. He ends up winning with 84c when a 4 comes on the flop, giving him bottom pair.

Often, he would go all-in preflop and after the flop, but usually played it straight at the turn and river, unless he had a monster, in which he'd go all in.

Now, for the topic at hand:

Earlier, with five players left and me in 2nd with about 2,300, I'm dealt AA UTG, and I do something I've never done before -- I limp, rather than raise. I'm hoping the idiot will go all-in, and I'll have him trapped.

He folded, and only the big blind called. I flop an A for a set, bet and take down the pot. My question is this: Against a shameless bluffer (he knows it and has admitted as such, more or less), would limping with a huge hand like AA be good strategy in hopes of trapping him and dropping the hammer on him?

[happyjaypee]

Hi there,

Yes, I belive it is a viable strategie, both in tourney and side games, to limp in front of an habitual bluffer/maniac who's trying to run over the game.

Just make sure you DO NOT flat call is raise out of position, especialy in tourney were going broke if he gets a piece of the flop is a desaster. Flat calling is raise might be a way to mix it up in side game.

my two cents.


-Happy /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

[DaNoob]

I'm far from a tournament expert, but I have found that a small raise here is more likely to induce the bluff than a limp. I used to go All-In with AA and hope that someone would call me (clearly not the best strategery, but worked more often than you would think).

What I noticed though, later in tournaments, is that people will often put you on a steal when you put in a small raise (vs limping) and reraise a significant amount to re-steal. This seems to be especially true with aggressive or maniac players. In this particular hand, I would probably check the flop and hope that the BB gets a piece of the turn or tries to bluff.

Sometimes, no matter what you do, you AA will only be a small winner. Even in these times, be happy, because that sure beats losing.

[cferejohn]

I also think it has a lot to do with how often you limp. If you have been limping quite often, this becomes a better play, especially if you have folded to a raise after limping in the past. If you always bring it in for a raise, limping is going to look suspicious.