You\'re Not Going to Like This One
 

Villain is extremely LAG bordering maniac. I had to fold a ton of hands against him in the past in HU Blind Defense and hands where I was the aggressor. Stats are 64.6/40.6/2.21

Party Poker 5/10 Hold'em (6 max, 5 handed) converter

Preflop: Hero is SB with K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, <font color="#CC3333">MP raises</font>, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero 3-bets</font>, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, MP calls.

Flop: (7 SB) 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">MP raises</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero 3-bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">MP caps</font>, Hero calls.

Turn: (7.50 BB) Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="#CC3333">MP bets</font>, Hero calls.

River: (9.50 BB) 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="#CC3333">MP bets</font>, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 11.50 BB

Re: You\'re Not Going to Like This One
 

I don't see the point in the flop 3-bet. I'd just call down.

Re: You\'re Not Going to Like This One
 

Agreed.

Re: You\'re Not Going to Like This One
 

I don't like the flop 3-bet either. I don't get many maniacs where I play so I really don't know how to tackle them.

Obviously all you beat here is J high now. There is a huge range of hands that do beat you and I don't know how many that you beat. You are only beating J high here and some busted straight draws?

True

Re: You\'re Not Going to Like This One
 

Yeah I think I got a little excited there on the flop.

"King high with a gutshot? Hell yeah!"

Re: You\'re Not Going to Like This One
 

This may warrant a preflop cold call. I understand the desire to isolate, but oop you really need to improve against this guy.

Re: You\'re Not Going to Like This One
 

So 3-betting is -EV?

Re: You\'re Not Going to Like This One
 

[ QUOTE ]
"King high with a gutshot? Hell yeah!"

[/ QUOTE ]

You may have been a bit delusional, too, since you have K-high and a backdoor draw. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

I think the three-bet is fine -- I don't want BB tagging along unless he is seriously bad-passive, predictable, and indiscriminately calling raises in the BB.

Against guys like these you want to get to SD cheaply unless you actually hit -- this is the one sort of guy where I could possibly three-bet pre-flop and ck-cl the flop since he's almost always raising me, his raise means nothing in terms of narrowing his range, he's never folding, and I don't want to 3-bet K-high here. Theses guys pay off your good hands, and they showdown J6o or whatever enough so that if you're playing a SD-able hand (and K high is against him) just get to SD and don't push them unless you hit or you see he's adjusting to your strategy.

If you've been folding to hinm a lot in blind steals (say he is CO and you are BB) consider limiting your defenses to two classes of hands that are a bit different from your normal steal range (1) SD worthy; or (2) no SD value but many, many ways to hit. Compared to your normal range, the first category gets larger and the second gets smaller. The idea is you either are seeing a SD (almost no matter what falls) or you are ditching on the flop depending on texture.

Re: You\'re Not Going to Like This One
 

[ QUOTE ]
So 3-betting is -EV?


[/ QUOTE ]

Pre-flop? It entirely depends on how well this guy plays. One way to figure him out is to observe if he ever folds the flop HU in a big pot with position. If he doesn't then you should probably keep the pot small and donk the flop. If he does then you can 3-bet but should respect his raise. If you don't know then I would cold call and donk the flop.

BTW, I'm just making up a theory to give my earlier reply some beef. It's something I might start looking for, but until now, I've played one maniac like any other.

Re: You\'re Not Going to Like This One
 

[ QUOTE ]
One way to figure him out is to observe if he ever folds the flop HU in a big pot with position.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's way to specific of a read. If you get the sense that he's capable of folding the flop UI then I like the 3-bet. If you're unsure, I'd assume that he feels the need to challenge you. You don't really want to see a SD unimproved, but if you build the pot up like this, you have to.

Another bonus about cold calling is you can c/r the flop if you hit. This will neutralize the bb. If the bb folded PF then you can wait until the turn to c/r.