Live Play w/ a Maniac

[fsuplayer]

A new guy entered into our home game recently and he is a complete maniac w/ his play and is coming back tomarrow night. I am normally a fairly tight and aggresive player who is a better player than him. He will raise w/ all but the uglist aces, two cards over ten, any pocket pair...etc. My question is, when we are playing .25-.50 blinds, should i buy in for the normal $20, or match his $35-40 that the maniac buys in for? Also, if it is possible to choose, should I place him on my left or right?...and how should I alter my play against him (ex. reraise with AK, AQ, or PP over 77 to isolate him?) Thanks for the advice guys

[Greg (FossilMan)]

How well does he play postflop?

If he's tough and tricky postflop, then I want him on my right, so I can act after him postflop. If he's a maniac throughout the hand, then I want him on my left. In this spot, you let him start the action, and see how the field responds before acting, thus effectively giving you last action on most of the pots.

Be prepared for MUCH bigger swings than you've experienced previously in this game. That's what maniacs do more than anything else, is to increase the variance.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)