crazed maniac on my left

#1 10-31-2005, 05:53 PM

played at niagara falls on weekend and had complete maniac on my left.. never seen anything like it. wasn't necessarily a fish (although a bad player). more the guy was rich, was drunk and wanted to have fun.

how does playing with a really loose and aggressive player affect hand selection?? i was dying to get in but couldn't hit any decent cards...and having him on left was terrible, although i eventually i'd just ask him if he was going to raise when i was near button or in small blind.

one huge mistake i made was betting out with nut flush on river. the maniac basically stopped himself from betting. and then i think everyone else did. should have checked, had the maniac bet, a few people call (as i had tight/aggressive image and they folded because of me i think) and then raise.

at 6/12, i was in small blind, everyone had folded to me. i had Q5. would you have played the maniac?? figure i have to put down $39 to win $45 if it goes in a straight-forward manner. i don't like it from risk=reward point of view so i just said goodbye to the $9 in blinds. wonder how Q5o matches up??

guy ended up losing $700 on 6/12 in 7 hours. not that much of it came my way.

thanks for any response! i am interested in any stuff on maniacs or loose-aggressive hand selection... i will search too.

#2 10-31-2005, 06:07 PM

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up losing $700 on 6/12 in 7 hours. not that much of it came my way.

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guy had calmed down alot by the time i hit some stuff hours later. cold cards and got rivered alot for the 3-4 hours the maniac was in his zone.

RiverDood · #3 10-31-2005, 06:37 PM

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one huge mistake i made was betting out with nut flush on river. the maniac basically stopped himself from betting. and then i think everyone else did. should have checked, had the maniac bet . . .

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Yes. This is how you make your money with a maniac on the wrong side of you. He's creating trapping opportunities for you almost every hand. You check, he bets, everyone calls, you C/R. You just need the right cards to pull it off.

The good opportunities won't come often, but when they do come, you can make an extra 5BB or more by quietly exploiting the folly of his loose play. That was one of those moments.

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at 6/12, i was in small blind, everyone had folded to me. i had Q5. would you have played the maniac?? i don't like it from risk=reward point of view so i just said goodbye to the $9 in blinds. wonder how Q5o matches up??

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It's an OK fold. Q5 is very close to 50/50 vs. any two. You don't have position -- and your only hope of trapping him for a serious pot would be if a Q comes on the flop. Otherwise you're splashing chips around without a clear edge.

In general, there's no reason to let a maniac degrade your standards for opening hands. Play what you feel comfortable playing. Avoid getting stuck in bad hands. If you're playing far fewer hands than he is, you do want to think about how to maximize the pot when you're ahead. C/R becomes a bigger part of what you do.

MrWookie47 · #4 10-31-2005, 06:38 PM

This is a good seat to have when you're playing a true maniac. It's like having the button every hand. You know what he's going to do - bet or raise - so you'll get to see what everyone else does before the action comes back to you. In this spot, you can consider limping some PP's, especially if the game is loose with many to the flop. If this guy is 3betting you lightly, then raise a lot of hands that have good showdown value and play well HU - AJo, etc. - hoping he 3bets and folding the field.