Just curious, has anybody had any success against maniacs while playing SH? I know the articles say to avoid them, but I kept running into them earlier. On Stars, I can't datamine and scout tables, so I have to sit down for a round or two to get a feel and some stats.
So, if so I was wondering about some pointers. Or is it best to just leave the table?
Which article says to avoid them? I find them highly profitable 
But i guess if u tilt fast than you are probably better off just leaving the table and they do put you in alot of tough situations postflop and if u dont like that than it might be better to avoid them all toghether.
Here's a hand i played yesterday and i was between a passive/bad callingstation and a maniac
Titan Poker 1.00/2.00, hand converted by the iPoker Converter at Talking-Poker
Visit Hand HQ to purchase hand histories from a range of sites, game types and levels.
saw flop | saw showdown
Button Button ($66.19)
SB SB ($35.50)
BB Hero ($114.02)
Preflop: Hero is in the BB with 5♦ 6♥
Button calls 1.00, SB calls 0.50, Hero checks.
Flop (3.00) 4♥ 8♥ 7♠
SB checks, Hero bets 1.00, Button raises to 2.00, SB calls 2.00, Hero raises to 3.00, Button raises to 4.00, SB calls 2.00, Hero calls 1.00.
Turn (18.00) 4♦
SB checks, Hero bets 2.00, Button raises to 4.00, SB calls 4.00, Hero raises to 6.00, Button raises to 8.00, SB calls 4.00, Hero calls 2.00.
River (48.00) 9♠
SB checks, Hero bets 2.00, Button raises to 4.00, SB calls 4.00, Hero raises to 6.00, Button raises to 8.00, SB calls 4.00, Hero calls 2.00
Hero shows 5♦ 6♥
Hero wins 78.00 with A straight, Nine high 
http://www.pokerstrategy.com/strategy/fixed-limit/65/1/
This is the article, under "reasons not to play maniacs." One of them is "if you play SH," which I do.
When I played them I kept getting sucked out, and the blinds come fast when you're waiting for top hands or being restricted to top hands by constant raising, 3betting, etc. So this makes sense, but like you said, they are also profitable so I don't necessarily want to avoid them at SH tables all the time.
I dont actually wait for top hands against maniacs in fact i loosen up alot and just play smart postflop and it usually pays off,
i think u just have to get a feel when ur good against maniac and stick ur money in that spot and not to overplay marginal hands too much since they do hold decent hands sometimes
Actually that does make sense. It made me think that, although it is the maniac that changes the game drastically, I think it's the other players and multiway pots, constant 3bets etc. that I have the trouble with.
Very rarely was I heads up on the flop vs. maniac. The other players at this level are also quite loose and I can tell many of them tilt when playing against maniac. I realize loosening up, even in this situation makes sense, but I don't want to tilt and start playing just any cards.
Plus, many times prf and pof I'm forced to call two bets. There are so many situations in which I should normally fold post flop that loosening up my game kinda turns into shooting in the dark.
It's different from the micros also because I was playing FR when I did and it was easier and less costly to fold.
Maybe it's just a matter of experimenting, but that can be costly as well.
I agree with gape for 110%.
It's all about your relative position on him - never play with maniac on your left! It's golden rule for me and I can honestly say that I've earned more from maniacs (50/30+) than from calling stations last week.
I usually close all other tables after I get perfect position on maniac on tilt (it's so easy to put 60/40 guy on tilt :P), but I HAVE TO have good table image, so all other good+ players will respect my raises. The perfect situation is to have maniac on your right and weak TAG (22/14) on your left..
So, my suggestions would be:
- always keep maniac on your immediate right (not 2nd on right..)
- focus on his hands as much as possible (even if that force you to close all tables) and make notes about ALL his showdowns no matter if you play or not
- especially look on his turn play, because flop is always wild as hell and even the most stupid maniacs are very often "honest" on the river (river raise is OK for them, but they almost never 3bet without strong hand)
- dont take bad beat too serious - shit happens but you'll win >80% when you "deserve" it 
- leave if you lost a lot of $$$ - not because of profit, but other players can notice that and may think you're on tilt (it can be good for you, but you must know how to take use of that)
- DO NOT FORGET: maniacs get AA & KK as often as you do!
good luck
Thank you for the valuable input. It's helpful and I have out it to use.
What about a table full of LAGs and maniacs? This tends to happen on the weekends. It's hard not to get sucked in. Is this scenario a crap-shoot?
Originally posted by strat9
Is this scenario a crap-shoot?
not really.. it's more like lottery: chance to win is tiny, but potentional reward is huge
If you want to play the most possible +EV game look for table with one maniac (or 2 but next to each other)..
