Medium pocket pairs preflop against maniacs overbetting

Publos Nemesis · #1 07-21-2005, 02:22 AM

The following has happened to me a lot recently at the 6-max tables:

You have medium pocket pair, 77-TT and there is a big raise (8-12bb) in front from a maniac (>70% VIP and PFR > 30%) who has 4+ buyins. You have just the max buy in (100bb). Your read is that the villain could have anything from J8s and up.

How do you play the hand and why?

kurto · #2 07-21-2005, 02:40 AM

If he's raising over 30%, I'd push with pocket 10s.

If he bets 8xbb, I'd play pp for set value. A maniac will pay you off. Matter of fact, you won't have to be tricky. He'll bet for you.

DrPublo · #3 07-21-2005, 02:48 AM

OOP, I probably call and take a look if he raises to less than 10x the BB.

In position, I likely reraise the majority of these hands preflop and play them all pretty hard on any flop. The thing about maniacs is that they like to make a lot of noise, but when faced with actual pressure they usually go away.

The Doc

Publos Nemesis · #4 07-21-2005, 11:28 AM

If the maniac is raising to 10-12xBB I like to push with 77 or better. The reason being that I would like to take the likely coinflip in order to double up. Having two buyins will make it much easier to take the rest of his stack. It is clear that the maniac does not know how to play with a big stack. Having two buyins greatly enhances your ability to outplay him and double through him again.