The Thinking Maniac

[Danenania]

When he figures out that you're willing to call him down with K-high and adjusts accordingly, how do you deal with it? Especially in HU blind steal situations. He's still way too loose and aggro preflop, but he wises up his postflop game by eliminating bluffs and valuebetting you to death. And yet you can't just start folding everything marginal because he's still a maniac and unpredictable and could go crazy at any time. Does his awful preflop play and still too loose postflop play keep him a profitable target, albeit with more variance? If he runs well during one of these periods in can be downright agonizing.

[einbert]

This is a terribly difficult thing for me, but I will try to share what I have picked up so far.

I have found that even when they "fall in line", these guys generally give a little too much action postflop if you throw them some rope. For example, I have found that the flop bet, turn checkraise line OOP is excellent against them once they have gotten to this point.

There is a pretty big distinction between them, in that some of them will keep paying you off with mediocre hands but just become passive with them. Others will start folding those hands, but will still bet when checked to or if you fein weakness.

If they really think and adjust well to your play, it's not going to be fun. Try to figure out what level they're thinking on and don't be afraid to try to resteal if you think they are putting a move on--just know who you are up against and whether they will call you down with bottom pair or not.

If this kind of player is sitting to my left, I will generally just go ahead and leave unless the rest of the table is very juicy.

[JoshuaD]

Call down less often -- Make your call downs unpredicitable.

[Danenania]

That's basically what I'm wondering. I know from experience that these situations can get very difficult and stressful, but if there's still above average money to be made I don't want to wuss out and leave the table.

[IGMorton]

excellent post.

one could probably profitably sell a book dedicated to the art of "Learning to love thy LAG"

[Victor]

wow. you just summarized my last 100k hands.

call down. fold. it doesnt matter. the key, of course, is to consistently have better cards at showdown. good luck.

[brazilio]

flop bet/call turn check/raise or bet/3-bet is my bread and butter against these guys for value betting. I seem to run into maniacs like this often when I'm playing strictly HU.

[ALL1N]

It's not simple, but to put it simply: I just tighten up a bit preflop and keep folding when I miss postflop. These guys never fold and never give freecards, so I just fold when I don't hit pairs, and pop them on the turn when I do.