|
|
|
|
 |
|
How To Deal With Maniacs At Your Table
|
The Maniac is an opponent who is in every hand, and when he enters a pot he typically does so betting, raising, or re-raising regardless of what he holds. There are players who do this out of ignorance, or because they are out of their minds (drunk, foolish, carefree), and there are those who do it as a carefully formulated strategy to dominate a table. Whether your maniac is an evil genius or a demented fool he still poses a unique and tough threat to you.
First of all, no matter what all those stuffy poker theory books might say, he will likely have an emotional impact on you. You may despise him personally and want to beat him because his attitude is so outrageously disrespectful. The Maniac usually puts everyone else on tilt, which makes him dangerous. If you can maintain discipline in the face of his all-out assault there is an excellent chance that you will ultimately thrive and take a lot of his money. If you face a Maniac in pot-limit or no-limit there is the possibility that his fearlessness will get the better of you, as you may only face him once or twice and luck is always a potentially debilitating factor.
The poker maniac needs to be isolated, and preferably by you, because his holdings are generally of a lower standard to other players in that position. If you knew that you could isolate a player for many extra bets and that the player in question was flying along with bottom pair or high-card you must take that situation every time. In order to isolate an aggressive poker player you ideally want to be on his left, and one seat away from him. This way you can wait for his action, re-raise, and hopefully take him on head-to-head. You also eliminate marginal hands held by other players at your table. If there is a raise, and a re-raise it becomes untenable to cling onto A-x or a small pair. By contrast, if you have these hands you need to re-raise with them if you act after a Maniac, or alternatively to call his re-raise if he sits to the right of you.
Hands that fare well in multi-way pots or against big pairs are now reduced in value: suited connectors for instance. The Maniac will cap pots if he sees an Ace, but is just as likely to try a bluff and push it to the river, so your measly pocket 3s could end up standing up all the way. The greatest difficulty about sitting with a Maniac is that there are still eight other players to worry over. What happens if the Maniac juices a pot and a normal player other than you gets involved as well? If you cannot isolate him heads-up you have to become very conservative and careful. Other players can see what you see as well, and online poker is rarely as straightforward as poker examples in books. These players are likely to have something if they are challenging the Maniac, and once this starts to happen you need to bide your time and wait for a good hand.
The keys to dealing with super-aggressive players in no-limit or pot-limit are slightly different, because the penalties of failure are far more severe. Do not attempt to draw out in a hand against a Maniac, but if you are ahead you must push to the maximum. In a live game a lot of Maniacs at high-limit games are in character, and might turn out to be crafty ringers. In the online game you will bump up against genuine gamblers who have migrated from an online casino and want to have fun and test their luck. Remember that your opponents online might have no idea about hand rankings never mind pot odds, so play them accordingly. Do not stoop to their level - remain disciplined and selective.
Related Poker Articles And News Items:
> Set Mining In Various Poker Cash Games
> A Radical Theory For No-Limit Hold'em Cash Games
> How To Read Hands In Poker
> Playing Suited Connectors In No-Limit Hold'em
> The Value Of Deception In Poker
> Online Tells And How To Spot Them
|
|
 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
