I realise this article is going to sound like I am ranting.......and to some extent, I agree with you. But after deliberating for a while, I thought to put myself out there with the hope someone might give me a suggestion that might help. It is about those maniac Russian players.
Now to begin, I am not saying ALL Russian players are maniacs, but over the course of the past year, the number of these maniacs have increased expotentially.
I have been playing poker online for the past 5 years and I have never seen the kind of crazy hands played by Russians - and winning. Of course there always has been and always will be maniacs - but usually these are cosidered fodder - "yum yum" you say. Sure they luck a hand off you every now and then but in the end the law of averages gets them - but not the Russkies.
I frequently check the ITM of maniacs after either watching or being involved in a hand with them and they usually have 7%-9% ITMs (I know I know, ITM doesn't tell you everything) but it does give you some idea if the player is a risk taker or not who lose more than they win - but not the Russkies.
For example, at the middle stages of a MTT, a player at MP3 raises, the Russkie on the button reraises, I on the BB with AA reraise. The MP3 goes all in with AQo (smallest stack and pot commited), the Russkie reraises and I go all in which he calls to reveal K8o. The hand ends with the Russkie with trip 8's and botting me off the MTT. I had a look at his ITM and in 2012, over 7 months and over a thousand ranked games, this Russkie managed an ITM of 17%. Really?
In another, a Russkie raises EP2, I in MP2 with KK, 3 bet, the Ruskkie 4bets , I 5bet, the Russkie pushes all in and I call. He reveals 93o ends with a full house to boot me off. When I had a look at his ITM - 24% over 6 months. Disbelief.
Yes it is always possible to luck a hand or two - it is even possible to have a fantastic run at a MTT and hit everything you play. But to do this consistently over a course of 6-7 months playing like a maniac? Defies all mathmatical probabilities.
Yes I know bad beats are part of the game. But it is one thing to call a maniac all in and lucking out, it is another to be 3,4 5 betted with ridiculous cards and losing. More importantly, this isn't an isolated case, this happens way way to often and not just to me but I have seen similar plays occur to other players with increasing regularity.
But I am digressing......I didn't start this article to talk about the bad beats (ok ok maybe wanted to rant a bit).
The question I wanted to pose is - all throughout 2012, I have been booted off MTTs by these maniac Russkies. Unfortunately my hand histories do not tell me the country of my opponents but I would not be exaggerating if I said possibly 80% or more (ok ok maybe not that much but a lot and very often).
Not only are these Russkies denying me my payday but they have taken all the enjoyment from the game - almost to a point I have considered stopping playing online.
I keep telling myself "I won't let these Russkies deny me the game enjoyed and still enjoy" so I keep plugging away.
I have tried to adjust - just flat calling and not raising in some MTTs. Not calling all ins from Russkies. I even went as far as playing an entire MTT where I folded every time a Russkie was in a hand regardless of what I had. Then I find myself saying, just play your game and don't make allowances for them.
However, no matter what I did, the end result always seemed to be the same - one key hand when I lose a big chunk of my chips or in many cases, get booted off by a maniac Russian playing stupidly.
I am completely and utterly confused, frustrated and at a loss. Any suggestions welcome.
