[Emily_Haines]

Typically I don't play a lot of hands but this night with lots of players on the tight side I have been splashing around with lots of preflop raises with junk and taking it down with continuation bets. I have played a few pots with this maniac and he his not afraid to bloat pots and bet his draws.

I have pocket KK in the big blind and for a 1/2NL game I am very deep with 700 behind. It is a straddled pot and has several limpers and I raise it to 50 to get the limpers out. I figure everyone will fold but the maniac because he always seems to get in my hands no matter how big a raise preflop. Sure enough he gets in there again.

The flop comes QTx with two hearts. I bet 75 and he instantly calls. The turn is a "K" but it puts three hearts on the board. The maniac knows this card has bothered me. He is not afraid to fire very huge bets and from what I have seen rarely wins in this game. He certainly is capable of bluffing but also makes very big bets when he has it. I go into the tank and know no matter if I bet it will get raise and if I check he certainly will bet repping hearts. I decide to check and hope he don't bet too much. He bets 100 and obviously is an easy call with outs drawing to a boat. A blank comes on the river and I check again, sure shit he moves all in and 475 to me.

Tell you what I did later........but what would you have done?

[grzftbl]

900, give or take, in the pot, call the 475?

I would have pushed but i'm a loose cannon so...

[daneblazer]

Because you posted this, I can probably guess what you did and guess what he turned over. Were there any limpers pf? Both of you are deep. I don't really like your turn check call there.

[drc6491]

should have took the pot earlier, there was little chance he would have bit if u continued betting with the Ks

[Emily_Haines]

Really not a lot I could do. It was either 50/50 he had it or not. I closed my eyes and shoved in all my chips. Heard him say he didn't have shit. I'm thinking he had just the "A" of hearts as he said his big draws never hit.

[daneblazer]

imo, you have to either bet or check raise him all in on the turn. Preferably bet. If he has one heart, you have to make him pay to see it.

I missed part of the first post . With several limpers, I like your raise to 50. Though if you think he'd call more, raise more.

[Emily_Haines]

imo, you have to either bet or check raise him all in on the turn. Preferably bet. If he has one heart, you have to make him pay to see it.

I missed part of the post at first. With several limpers, I like your raise to 50. Though if you think he'd call more, raise more.

I seen him limp in for $2 and the call $93 more preflop. The other guy moved all in for $250 more after the flop and he call it with a gut shot and hit. He does not win in the long run but can be very difficult to play against. Really big bets do not deter him. He says he is there to gamble.

[daneblazer]

Yeah, as it played out I don't mind the call with a blank on the river. The fish spaz shove scares me, but against a player like that you are probably good on the turn and have several outs even if you aren't. You can't allow him to be the aggressor there and you sure as shit can't allow a free heart to fall.

btw, what was the outcome?

[Emily_Haines]

Yeah, as it played out I don't mind the call with a blank on the river. The fish spaz shove scares me, but against a player like that you are probably good on the turn and have several outs even if you aren't. You can't allow him to be the aggressor there and you sure as shit can't allow a free heart to fall.

btw, what was the outcome?

I won, didn't see what he had as he tossed his cards in the muck.

[downsouth]

I probably play the hand a little stronger on the flop with the heart draw and straight draw on board. With the straddle and limpers IM guessing there is 130 or so in pot preflop after your raise. I probably come out a little stronger than 2/3's pot, probably overbet or something close.

Glad you won pot.

[BeerDog99]

While this might be overstating the obvious, this situation is one of my biggest challenges. As you say, this type of player is very hard to play against even though he is very bad.

If I was real sure this guy was a maniac, I probably would have check-raised all-in on the turn to shut this down or get all the money in. Without that, you are leaving yourself with a very hard 50/50 call on the river.

At least on the turn you were very likely to be ahead so you would have gotten your money in good with outs if he had you.

That all said, repeating the above, these type of maniacs really give me fits so any way you look at it, this is a tough situation.

Glad it came out on the right end for you!

Cheers.

[MIAMIHURRICANE]

like the thread..was interesting.

[Kaladarus]

I probably play the hand a little stronger on the flop with the heart draw and straight draw on board. With the straddle and limpers IM guessing there is 130 or so in pot preflop after your raise. I probably come out a little stronger than 2/3's pot, probably overbet or something close.

Glad you won pot.

I like this play a lot. There is a very good chance you are ahead on the flop and there are many draws available. An overbet will most likely get a maniac player to either push or fold. If he has a queen you will most likely get all his money regardless of the price you set on the flop. If you set a big price and he calls you will have an easier decision getting the rest of your money in on later streets because of pot odds. For the most part your hand crushes a maniacs range and even playing it the way you played it(which is good also) will beat him in the long run.

[sinmiedo]

While this might be overstating the obvious, this situation is one of my biggest challenges. As you say, this type of player is very hard to play against even though he is very bad.

If I was real sure this guy was a maniac, I probably would have check-raised all-in on the turn to shut this down or get all the money in. Without that, you are leaving yourself with a very hard 50/50 call on the river.

At least on the turn you were very likely to be ahead so you would have gotten your money in good with outs if he had you.

That all said, repeating the above, these type of maniacs really give me fits so any way you look at it, this is a tough situation.

Glad it came out on the right end for you!

Cheers.

sound like your are talking about me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lol

[BeerDog99]

sound like your are talking about me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lol

Yes with the exception that you are not a bad player, just very hard to play against!

[sinmiedo]

Yes with the exception that you are not a bad player, just very hard to play against!

so are you too buddy.
i wish we could make a casino trip soon.
on line makes me sick lately with all the bad beats bot and all unknown ingridiets that they canot bring to a real game

[sinmiedo]

so are you too buddy.
i wish we could make a casino trip soon.
on line makes me sick lately with all the bad beats bot and all unknown ingridiets that they canot bring to a real game

last few casino trip was very profitable for you

[Ian]

Preflop: Your raise is way too big. Once you make it $50 non-maniacs will only give you action with one hand. It depends on exactly how many limpers there are, but $25ish is a better number because now you may get the limpers to call with a range that's in real trouble versus your hand.

Flop: As played preflop, good.

Turn: Unless you are 100% certain your opponent will bet you should bet yourself. Even if it doesn't improve your opponent's hand, you'll get bluffed out if a heart, A, J, or 9 comes on the river. In such a huge pot with so many dangerous outs this is the last spot where you want to risk giving a free card.

If you are 100% sure your opponent will bet if checked to, then check/raise him all-in (which is basically a pot sized raise). Check/calling still leaves you vulnerable to all those dangerous free cards. By raising the maniac still might call you with hands you beat (AA, AK, a lower set, a combo draw, or maybe even something completely ridiculous) your protect your hand against draws, and even if you're behind you'll still boat up almost a quarter of the time.

River: As played, check/calling regardless of the maniac's bet size is by far your best option.

Just my opinion...

[70kgman]

I won

I thought the war won?

[$Burm$]

***don't bet to protect, bet for value***

[d2bets]

I wanna know which cards were hearts, what the 'x' and the 'blank' were and then I'd love know what he had. Wondering if he had QQ or JJ. He's probably silently cursing you out as lucky for the K on the turn.

[scarface2738]

interesting hand gotta love maniacs lol

[thetrinity]

against this type of guy gotta go with it i agree though these are the players you dont really like to be deep against (unless u got the nuts of course). much better to play against them when they got around 100-150 bbs.

[PlatinumBerg]

Do you live in the Chicago area? If yes, was this at the Horseshoe in Hammond, Indiana?

[lolguy999]

x didnt matter... it was probably a 4 or a 7 or something...