Facing a Maniac – How To Play Against Maniacs in Poker

During any lengthy poker session, especially at micro limit stakes, you will find a maniac at your table. To every player this is a big advantage, but few know how to play against these players and therefore, fail to make money from them.

A maniac is a player who is extremely aggressive. They may raise with any hand dealt to them, re-raise any bet they face and will generally fold very few, if any hands. A players dream would to be seated with a whole table of maniacs, or sat at a heads up table along with one, but do how do you play against them? Loose, Aggressive?

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It will be a huge advantage if you are seated to the left of the maniac. Of course this is not an option if you are involved in a tournament, but if playing in a cash game try and ensure you are to the immediate left of the player. This is an advantage as you will have position on your opponent, meaning you will be able to view their actions before you make your decision on your play.

Most decent hands you are dealt will most probably be stronger then the cards your opponent will be raising with. Any A-X, pocket pair and Broadway cards are worthy of a re-raise as you will isolate the maniac meaning you can play heads up with the player.

The maniac may also change the style of the whole table, as players will loosen up to try and get into pots with the player. This can be an advantage for you, but stay away from pots involving too many players unless you have good implied odds. If a good player at the table raises the maniac whilst you are in the hand, you should only be willing to call with the top one or two hands, as any other hand will likely be behind already.

You have to be prepared to face big bets on the flop, turn and river. If your hand is not improved by the flop you simply cannot fold to a bet. If you have an A-x and are facing a large bet it will be worth a call as it is likely your opponents hand has not improved either, and your Ace high is leading. If you hit on the flop however, always fire out a re-raise. You do not want to play passively in case you allow the opponent to hit a winning hand, as you will lose a huge amount of chips calling and raising his bets.

So to sum up, when facing a overly aggressive player, you should try to sit to the immediate left of them and isolate them whenever possible with decent starting hands. When on the flop, don’t fold to any bet if your hand doesn’t improve and be prepared for the whole table’s style to change as a result of the maniac.