Playing against a Holdem Maniac
It is possible that you will be playing with some maniac in play poker. A maniac in the poker is a person who not only plays much more than his suitable share of
hands, but also raises and re-raises continuously, even though the hand
he holds does not deserve it. Although the maniac will lose his game,
he might also put you into trouble.
(Note that the best sort of rival is loose, passive player, as he will
call your bet while he shouldn't and as he occasionally bluffs you will
certainly come to know about his hand. That is, you can easily throw
away your hand in areas where you are would have to pay off other
players, especially the maniac. Moreover, you can successfully play
more hands against such kind of rivals in any form of poker. Maniacs find it little hard to get their own money.)
But what about playing against loose, wild, and extremely aggressive
player? If he acts after you do, you should be very selective to play
your hand. Also consider that drawing hands like
Which require high implied odds decreases in value as you expect the maniac to raise and thereby reduce
the number of rivals that will see the flop. That is, you should only
high card hands and medium or high pairs unless many rivals have called
in front of you.
If you play after
the maniac, the situation would change slightly. This is because when
he raises, his standard raising hand is likely much weaker than the
average raising hand of a tough rival. However, if you are playing
against the maniac you should be ready to re-raise punish him for his
extra aggressive tendencies. Another advantage of re-raising is that
you increase your chance of getting the pot heads-up against him.
You
should always prefer to sit to the left of the maniac unless there are
some prudent players in the game who will not accept your strategy and
will play or even make it four bets with many hands behind you. But if
the other players allow you to re-raise him with something like
And they will not interfere unless they have a legitimate three bet hand, then you definitely want to be on his left.
If in case other players do interfere then it is better to be on the
maniac's right so that you first get a chance to see how they play.
Being on the maniac's right gives an opportunity to limp in before the
flop or check to him on the later streets. It makes everyone in the
middle and then there is a chance for you to raise. There are many
advantages to it. The only reason to be on his left is to try to
eliminate him from the game.
If there
is any maniac in the game you prefer to be on his left if the other
players at the table allow you to run over him. If you cannot eliminate
him you want to be on his right because you want to check and after he
best you can out them in the middle. (If you are heads-up, then it
won't matter as you will always check to the maniac if you are first to
act.)
Let's assume that there is
maniac in your game, he raises every hand and you are seated to his
left. What type of hands you will play against him? The answer is you
should play those hands that can win at the showdown without any
improvement. This includes hands like A9 and KT and you will raise with
them providing that your re-raise will get you heads-up. If you do, you
should see many similar hands to the end unless it comes really bad.
Here
you would think that it is obvious to other players so know what you
are doing. But still they remain in a bad position when you make it
three bets. Unless they are comfortable with trying to interfere with
what you are doing - and very few players are - may be able to play
more than 25 percent of your hands in this manner provided that you are
in a late position and there is no one else (except the maniac) in the pot. If 25 percent
of hands are high then keep in mind that maniac will be playing close
to 100 percent of his hands.
Playing Good Hands When It Is Three Bets Before the Flop
For example you started with
For two bets and someone else makes it three bets. How will you play your hand?
Notice in this situation, you are up against either a high pair, which
may or may not be able to beat, or two high cards usually AK. It means
if any ace or king comes on the flop, you should generally and fold.
But if the flop looks positive, be inclined to check and call all the
way. (Of course depending on your rival and the board, it would be
better to bet when all the cards are out.)
Checking
and calling represents two reasons. The first reason is if you check
and raise, and have the worst hand, you will lose more money. However,
if you have the best hand, your rival may fold on the turn and you
won't be able to win more money as you could have won before his
folding.
Another reason for checking and calling is that you force your rival to bluff all the way. For example he has a hand like
He
will certainly bet with this hand not only on the flop but also later
on the turn and river expecting for you to fold. Give him a chance to
throw his money away. Remember, risking free cards is not dangerous at
this point because you might be beaten anyway.
One
exception of just calling before the flop against re-raising is when
you believe that your rival may think that you might be stealing. This
occurs when you are first in an early position or when you are raising
a lot. In this situation, if he is somewhat wise or extremely
aggressive, he will be quick to make it three bets. Thus, you want to
take it to four bets. On the other hand, if you just call, you will out
him into a weak position and he may bet on the flop and the turn with
very few outs.
Suppose if you raise early with Q
Q
either one or two positions off the button, the aggressive might make it three bets with a hand like
To make it four bets is a possible option. So you can play the hand more aggressively on the later streets.
Suppose the flop looks favorable, but you have three betted while you hold
Instead
you two queens. You should play your hand similar as before though your
chances have decreases because you might be against tens or jacks. The
exception would be when you are against three rivals and the re-raiser
is last to act. Now here you want to come out betting. Your betting
might force the players who were between you and the original raiser to
fold, as they will fear another raise.
If
you raise with high card, get re-raised and the flop come to high pair,
it is usually correct to check and call all the way. The exception
would be obvious AK, where you will raise along the players with the
high pair. But with other hands, you should play with one pair against
someone who has both position on both and has revealed a big hand.
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