I love maniacs
 

Before running into "Our Friend" at a .25/.50 NL table at Paradise, we had a brief encounter at a darkly lit 1-2 5-handed table. Having known OF loves to jam his miracle draws on the turn and raise preflop with all sorts of trash, I felt well-equipped to deal with him at the NL table ... a place into which I rarely venture.

The plan? Push all-in with any pair JJ or better, AKs, AKo and AQs.

I wouldn't stay there long. Having bought in for the $50 maximum, I see OF take down three monster pots with the prerequisite trash starting hands and ensuing miracle flops.

I'll admit, his tactics helped him earn at least 7-8 BBs at the 1-2 table, so he's probably feeling like I'm a fresh target. On just the fourth hand, he's UTG and raises me for half my stack. I'm two seats to his left, in perfect position to make him pay for his foolishness.

Riding to the rescue? A pair of multi-hued cowboys. I push all in.

Maniac? Allow me to introduce you to Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman to your soon-to-be-ground-into-dust Q [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 8 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

The flop comes with no queen, no eight, one heart and nothing even coming close to a straight draw.

WOOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH. The chips are pushed in my direction. Our Friend leaves immediately. I can almost hear the ovation coming from the rest of the table. A sense of normalcy returns to our friendly NL game.

I love maniacs.