NC, I want to play like a maniac---My journey to the dark side

[Buccaneer]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't understand your point.

are these players laying down to your aggression or are they maniacs?

[/ QUOTE ]

No they are playing with mindless agression. They fold nothing if bet into they lay nothing down if they are raised and yet when they show a hand down it is frequently 42o, or something like that.

I gave an example in the op of a tourny. There were two "all in all the time guys". One seems to win the table about 60% of the time and the other about zero. The one that wins won by going over the top of other people on about 70% of the hands till it got down to three other opponents. Then he switched his tactics and went to 90%. I watched him win show down after show down with junk. If he needed a 4 to make a gut shot straight he got it on the river, if he was finally beat by a monster he drew out a weak flush to a low card in his hand, if someone had him with KK on the turn then he pairs his A on the river (his A2o) that he has called on every street. I saw him loose only three hands when he was dominated or other wise had his arse kicked before the river. I physically kept notes on the play so I these are objective statements not subjective. He wins tourneys with nothing but raw, nondirected agression.

How is he doing this on a constant basis.

[amoeba]

I think your definition of constant needs reworking.

he is just getting lucky.

[Buccaneer]

don't spend more than three minutes making a post. Any that I put any thought into are sent to the trash can of the internet.

[Buccaneer]

[ QUOTE ]

Quote:
its just short term variance.




[/ QUOTE ]

There is nothing short about it and I no longer believe it is variance, at least random variance. It is guided or directed somehow. Somehow they are taking advantage of something I do not see or understand.

[amoeba]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Quote:
its just short term variance.




[/ QUOTE ]

There is nothing short about it and I no longer believe it is variance, at least random variance. It is guided or directed somehow. Somehow they are taking advantage of something I do not see or understand.

[/ QUOTE ]

how many hands is it?

[scrapperdog]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
its just short term variance.

and if you are play .25/.50 with $10 max, in other words 20bb stacks, then all you should be doing is waiting for premium hand then getting it all in preflop. the structure makes it pretty much a luckfest and alot of the postflop skills you learn will not be put in to use.

[/ QUOTE ]

My point exactly. But this does not do anything but produce folds. I got AA twice and KK once in the space of 12 hands on line yesterday. My aces were cracked once and lost 5bb (normal variance, no big deal) the other aces tripped up and won and my KK was folded to me in the bb. These hands ended up +1 small blind. Fold, fold, fold, to any agression, that is what aware players are doing. They are not all idiots.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok this is getting confusing... maniacs or no? How do you get away from aces in a game that has 20X the bb buy in for 5BB? That is either the laydown of the century or your play is way off. Honestly it sounds like you are being outplayed...but it is hard to tell with this mismash of a picture you have painted us. Is the table in general too tight and a person is taking advantage of this by betting? If so he is not a maniac, he is a poker player who has adjusted to table conditions. If you want a real answer give us a complete picture. One post you complain about people never folding and having mindless agression and the next you are pointing out how tight the table is.

You want to emulate a guy that needs help having the board explained to him? I think that says it all right there. Improve you confidence. This guy should be ez pickings for you, now play like you know it.

[kurto]

Dude... you're just whining.

I play 10 player SNGs all the time. Inevitably, there is always one maniacal moron.

Once in awhile, they get really big stacks and go on a streak and actually win the whole thing.

More often then not, they get really big stacks early on by knocking out 1 or 2 players who either have no idea how to combat the maniac or they luck out... but most of the time they don't win the thing or make the money because 95% of them DON'T KNOW WHEN TO SLOW DOWN.

I've seen maniacs on Pokestars go from $8000 chip stacks where the 3 remaining players have about $2-3K each.... and go out because they don't have the smarts enough to change gears.

You should LOVE these players. They will double you up when you hit.

[Buccaneer]

Kurto, thanks for your comments. I must assure you that I am not whinning. I am frustrated at not being able to beat this game. I played again last night with this guy and played very carefully and was out in 30 min. His play looks maniacal but it somehow has purpose. He bluffs alot. I stayed and watched the game and he at one point lost most of his stack. He was able to come back with what everyone thought was a bluff that ended out to be KK. His play never changed and he was in control of the table the whole night.

I just won a little 139 player tourney. It was an interesting (but mind numbingly long) trny. I played tight and got up a few chips, then down a bit, desperate for chips I stayed tight till I got some cards and was able to get into a comfortable position. I had an average to below average stack at the first break. Then the blinds were large enough to make them worth stealing and I was able to open up a bit. I then got to the point I was getting good reads on who was scared of risking thier pots etc and was able to continue to increase my stack. I got to the final table only having to push one time when I did not have the nuts and luck shone on me. I only had one player fold before I wanted him to. I was very successful at using other players to pick each other off.

Was I the best player there? No. Did I get the best cards? No. I did out play the players and was I able to play around bad cards? Today I did! I was able to take things I learned through 2+2 and reduced the variance of the players and thier cards to a level I had some control of.

These two examples that I have given the only difference is that I feel I am a better player than them and yet they beat me silly. I should be able to play around crappy play and I am unable to figure out what I am missing.

[bobman0330]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Quote:
its just short term variance.




[/ QUOTE ]

There is nothing short about it and I no longer believe it is variance, at least random variance. It is guided or directed somehow.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you're right. God probably hates you for whining so much.

[fathertime]

copied from In the Tank by Scott Fischman - 2005-11-02 Cardplayer Magazine





It seems I cannot go 2 hours without someone hitting a 3-outter on me. Is that common for a good player since you always have the best of it when betting, or is it just a bad streak that all players go thru?

– $leepy Chief

Hey Sleepy,

This is something that I noticed very early on when I was learning poker. I would often wonder why I took so many beats, but then I did realize that I was always the one with the best hand. It is pretty obvious that if you are the one leading the way it will be a bad beat when you lose. The key here is to try and not let these beats effect you in a negative way. Understand that when you are playing good hands you will win money in the long run and that is what is important.

After a while of playing only the good hands and also being the guy that got the bad beat I decided to put the shoe on the other foot. I started playing a lot of “out of the box” hands. My favorite quote of all time is, “If you get there on the river you can’t get outdrawn!” I don’t remember where I heard it but it stuck with me.