Playing Against a Maniac

Playing poker will bring you up against an infinite amount of different personalities.

Watch poker on TV, and the advanced levels of play make it much harder to confine a player to any particular category. Because of their experience, poker players compete at roughly the same level and play their hands by calculating their actual odds of winning the pot.

Even professional players that have a distinct manner of play are competent enough to mask or bluff their styles. To a degree, most professional players seem very similar when watching them in action.

Play poker online, and you’ll immediately find a host of different styles and personalities. Some will be obviously tight and only play their hands when they have a minimum of 10’s upwards in the hole. Others will be obviously bad bluffers who continually lose big pots by trying to bet themselves out of trouble.

Some bad players won’t necessarily be bluffers, but simply play loose because they’re still learning the game. Other players will be naturally aggressive, and can play a tight game whilst bordering on being brutal when it comes to a winnable pot.

Perhaps the most difficult player to come up against is the one that plays in both a loose and aggressive style. Ring games in particular seem to attract this type of player. A typical characteristic of the loose and aggressive player is a disproportionate pot raise that sees the hand won only for the player to show his cards and be holding an unsuited low combination.

Indeed, this unruly, aggressive and almost unreadable nuisance has a well deserved name in the world of poker.

Quite simply, we call him the maniac!

Playing the maniac can often be a costly and frustrating experience, particularly if your own play tends to centre on playing it tight. Although it’s always beneficial to profits when having loose players at the table, there’s nothing worse than being continually raised out of potentially good hands.

There are two effective defensive strategies that can be used against the maniac but both of these begin with exactly the same piece of advice, and that is to continue being overly selective of your own starting hand.

Don’t be drawn in by the maniac and start taking risks with poor hands yourself. Low pocket pairs or suited connectors are ideal to play if you’re in this situation and the pot odds are in your favour. Unfortunately, this becomes more difficult when other players at the table become tighter as the maniac wields his relentless aggression time and time again. Chances are that the maniac will continue to slaughter you on the flop which will lead to a succession of expensive folds or showdowns.

The first strategy is to fight back against the maniac before the flop. When a player is completely aggressive, there’s nothing more that frustrates them than being re-raised. This leads to the loose and aggressive player losing the hand and can often encourage even looser play.

Even a maniac can’t always have the Aces or Kings in the hole that he likes to portray, so the chances are that he’ll have a distinctly average hand at best. If you have a position on the raiser and you’ve been dealt a better than average hand, don’t be afraid to re-raise yourself. In the majority of cases, you’ll pick up the pot before the flop comes into play.

A maniac doesn’t want to fight. Usually, maniacs like to have control and regularly take pots by capitalising on the weaknesses of other players. If you’re going to take on a maniac, be prepared to do so on your own terms. Always play your own game instead of being drawn into a random battle for superiority with poor hands and make the maniac pay before the flop wherever possible. If you’re going to go through with a hand, be sure to understand the pot odds if the maniac tries to outplay you through sheer aggression alone.

Another great strategy is to trap loose and aggressive players with a strong hand. If you’ve been lucky enough to pull pocket aces, play your hand slowly to maximise the pot instead of frightening the maniac out of the betting by being too aggressive yourself. If the maniac has gone in with his usually-excessive 5 times the big blind, it’s worth just calling if there’s nobody else in the pot.

Because the maniac will continue to be aggressive on the flop, just call him again or check-raise if you’re out of position. If you have enough confidence in your hand to know you’ll win, carry on calling or value betting until the pot has increased to a respectable size.

With a maniac, the chances of seeing him fold once he’s committed to a hand becomes less likely. Keep the betting reasonably conservative and you’ll make your money by the end of the hand.

It pays to keep a close eye out for possible trouble such as an obvious straight or flush draw. If you feel you could be in trouble it’s sometimes worth throwing in a raise but wherever possible, it’s best to save any big betting until the river.

Of course, you’re sure to get the occasional bad beat against a player that’s prepared to bet on anything. The maniac will always have his victories, but the tighter player who can respond effectively to him will always pick up the bigger pots and prize money in the long run.