"the conclusion that i came to was that his preflop strategy was limiting the field enough so that once the flop came and it was heads up, 3 handed, or occasionally 4 handed, the nut-nut strategy was not good enough"


Brad - Yes. I've independently come to a very similar conclusion about some frequent pre-flop raisers.


"i seemed to do best with maniac to my immediate left."


I've seen (and heard) that opinion expressed by others. It may depend somewhat on your own style of play. For my style of play, I much prefer pre-flop raisers seated to my right and rocks on my left. Let me explain why.


Several reasons. (1) I can fold marginal starting hands instead of playing them to a single bet and then getting the dreaded raise or folding them only to regret not playing them when the anticipated raise does not materialize. (2) I can often "buy the button" by raising out the rocks myself. (3) Some rocks usually or often concede their buttons even without being raised.


Having position doesn't always matter in Omaha-8, but sometimes it does. With some rocks seated to your immediate left you often are last to act (after the first betting round) two hands in a row. With certain other rocks seated to your immediate left you are *usually* last to act two hands in a row. However, with a maniac seated to your immediate left - you rarely are last to act two hands in a row, because a maniac on the button almost never folds before the flop.


I'm interested in knowing how you take advantage of frequent pre-flop raisers who are seated to your left.


Buzz