Opponent Profiles: The Maniac
Introduction
In this article
- Position is everything
- There is no sense in bluffing. Let strong hands look like bluffs
- Be careful: Maniacs can make you forget your A game
A maniac is the extreme loose aggressive player. Not only does he play
a lot of hands, he plays them with extreme aggression. He fights for
every pot and his main concern is winning as many pots as possible. He
loves to bluff and hates being bluffed.
His presence at the table often leads to players playing for much
larger pots than they normally would. The pressure he creates with his
maniacal aggression makes him an uncomfortable opponent, not only for
beginners. But playing against a maniac can be very profitable when you
know how to play against him. And that's exactly what this article will
be about.
What is a maniac and how can you recognize one?
Maniacs like to punish weakness. As soon as they think they sense
weakness in their opposition, they try to put the pressure on. If you
give him the chance to take over the game and push his opponent around,
he will try to do so. In general, a maniac's stats will look something
like:
- PFR: 25%+
- AF: 4.0+
You can also spot a maniac without the help of Elephant stats. He plays
a lot of hands, and he plays them very aggressively. He bluffs a lot
and is sometimes proud to show his worthless hand after succeeding in
forcing an opponent out of the hand. He may even try to provoke
opponents with his chit chat.
Why do maniacs play this way?
Maniacs don't pay much attention to hand ranges and board structure. He
basically only knows one concept: If your cards can't win the pot,
aggression can.
And he takes this to the max. He's probably seen some big bluffs on TV and is dying to be the cool guy.
You can spot a maniac off the table by his social
behavior. He loves standing at the center of attention and taking the
initiative.
As a poker player, he is the type who doesn't really care about the
money and uses it to put constant pressure on his opponents. He sees
every player at the table as his own personal enemy and would love to
win every pot against every opponent. The result: Every time he plays
for a pot, he gives himself the chance to win the pot with a weaker
hand without seeing the showdown.
The characteristics of a maniac
Just like with all the other player types, there
is not only one kind of maniac. In fact, one maniac's style is often
quite different from an other's. It's important to understand these
differences in order to adapt your game accordingly when you have are
playing against a maniac.
How does a maniac decide how much to bet? Does he vary his bet sizes?
Does he make smaller bets/raises when he has a strong hand? Does he
overbet his monsters to make it look like a bluff? Is he using
minraises or limp/minraises to keep his play intransparent?
The tiny variations in bet sizes help you get a read on a maniac and
put him on a hand range despite his permanent show of aggression.
How does the maniac play in 3-bet pots? Does he 3-bet pre-flop often
and making big contibets on nearly every flop? Or does he suddenly
start playing passively as soon as he finds himself in a 3-bet pot?
The more aggressive his contibets in 3-bet ports, the lighter you can
re-raise and the more willing you can be to go broke on the flop. Now,
when we say lighter re-raises and a willingness to go broke on the
flop, we don't mean start 3-betting with T9s pre-flop and bet/pushing
on a AQTr flop. You should only get involved in 3-bet pots with strong
starting hands when facing such a maniac!
If the maniac tends to suddenly play passively
when in a 3-bet pot, or even folds a lot of his hands to a 3-bet, you
can take advantage of this and play in more 3-bet pots when you have
position on him.
How willing is he to go broke before the flop? How often does he raise
a contibet? How often does he bluff on a scare card on the river? How
often does he try to put the pressure on with an extra dose of
aggression on draw heavy boards?
As you can see, you can also create a profile of individual maniacs by
observing his play over time. Once you've identified his weaknesses,
you can start exploiting his play.
What is the best way to play against a maniac?
From a psychological standpoint, you should not let the maniac
intimidate you. This could happen to you if, for example, you just
moved up a limit, if you are practicing aggressive bankroll management,
if you have scared money or if you simply have a tough time making the
right decision when confronted with the kind of aggression maniacs
display.
If this applies to you, you should simply avoid playing at tables with
maniacs. They can be very profitable opponents, but if you don't know
how to adapt your game correctly you might end up being his profitable
opponent.
When you play with a maniac, the game can get pretty swingy. You can't
let yourself go on tilt. You will have to fold more often on later
streets. And loose players who see more flops than tight players will
suck out and win on bad beats from time to time, which can be difficult
to digest, especially since you will often be playing for a big pot.
When you play against a maniac, being able to control the pot (with
respect to your hand strength) is even more important. It follows that
being in position is of an even greater advantage when you are facing a
maniac.
You have three options when a maniac raises in front of you: fold,
call, re-raise. You should fold all hands that have little high card
value, weak implied odds or that offer little deception. These are
hands that are not very profitable, neither heads up without initiative
against a maniac or in a multiway pot (KTo, for example).
You should cold call with hands that have high
implied odds or that offer deception. Cold calling often leads to
multiway pots, since the other players are more inclined to make looser
calls after another player calls a maniac's raise.
You should only re-raise with very strong hands. Of course, 'strong' is
a relative term. Being ahead against your opponent's range is often
enough. And since he raises with a lot of hands pre-flop, you can often
re-raise with a hand you would otherwise have folded.
0.50/1.00 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Stacks
CO $100.00
Hero $100.00
Pre-flop: Hero is BU with A
J
2 folds, CO raises to $4.00, Hero raises to $14.00
By re-raising you create a situation in which you can will win the pot
pre-flop or play heads up in position with a relatively strong hand.
You would fold if a tight opponent had raised in this situation, but
you can re-raise when facing a maniac, which has another advantage:
Other, stronger hands behind you (like AQ, 99, TT, JJ) are more likely
to fold. The blinds will fold very often not knowing how weak your hand
really is. They are also caught between you and the maniac and know he
might decide to raise again before seeing the flop.
Being out of position can be a very uncomfortable
venture since you have fewer options after the flop. You won't be able
to take free cards and will have to fold to your opponent's aggression
more often. You may also be confronted with quite a few pre-flop
3-bets. You should be aware of this when deciding how to play your hand
before the flop. If your opponent tends to 3-bet very often, you can
try to create profitable situations to 4-bet for value by making
tighter open raises.
It's very important that you adapt your game according to the maniac's
aggression. This means playing more passively in general and with even
more aggression in certain spots. You have to change the way you look
at your hand in relation to the board structure. You can use a lot of
good top pairs and middle pairs as bluff catchers. This is the best way
to exploit his aggression and get the most value for these hands.
You can also get your money in on the flop when you have a very strong
draw with a lot of equity. You can generate a lot of fold equity and
have decent chances of winning the showdown if he puts his stack in,
too.
When facing a maniac, it is very important to understand the concepts
of pot control and maximizing value and apply them to your game.
How should you play heads up against a maniac?
There are three things you need when you are heads up with a maniac: patience, tilt resistance, and balls.
Patience and a resistance to tilt are self-explanatory. You have to
wait for the right spots and can't let yourself be tempted to
semi-bluff or make a loose call with a medium strong hand.
A good spot is all you really need to win a maniac's stack when he has
decided to bluff you out of the hand. Having the patience to wait for
this spot goes hand in hand with staying off tilt. Sometimes you have
to wait a long time for the right spot and then it still doesn't work
out - you can't let this put you on tilt.
You can't try to win "your" money back and start a feud with a maniac.
Once you start taking it personal you will not be playing your A game
and will not be playing as profitably as you could be.
The maniac wants to intimidate you and make you afraid to make the
right decision. It takes balls to stand up to him follow you read and
call down with 2nd pair or to make a move on the board.
In general, you should slow down and wait for the maniac to make
mistakes, or even to provoke him into making a mistake. There are two
ways to exploit his aggression: You let him bluff, or you play
aggressively and put him in a tough spot.
0.50/1.00 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Stacks
Hero $100.00
BU $100.00
Pre-flop: Hero is UTG with A A
Hero raises to $4.00, 2 folds, BU calls $4.00, 2 folds
Flop: ($9.50) Q
J 4
(2 players)
Hero bets $8.00, BU raises to $30.00, Hero reraises to $96.00 (All-In), BU calls $66.00 (All-In)
Turn: ($201.50) 2
River: ($201.50) 5
BU shows KT and wins.
Even though you ended up losing to a runner runner
flush draw, you hade a very big advantage in equity on the flop. You
were ahead with 73% on the flop and won quite a bit of money from a
long-term point of view. You can't let the fact that the maniac got
lucky and won this one influence your game.
0.50/1.00 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Stacks
Hero $100.00
BB $100.00
Pre-flop: Hero is BU with T K
3 folds, Hero raises to $4.00, SB folds, BB calls $3.00.
Flop: ($9.50) T Q 4 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.
Turn: ($9.50) 6
BB bets $8.00, Hero calls $8.00.
River: ($25.50) 2
BB bets $22, Hero calls $22.
It doesn't really matter what the maniac has. You were able to accomplish two things by checking behind on the flop:
- You signaled weakness. The maniac will now be more likely to bluff.
- You kept the pot small and did not give him the chance to check/raise.
You could have also contibet the flop, then
checked behind on the turn and called a river bet. The disadvantage of
this betting sequence (cbet flop, cb turn, call river) is that it gives
your opponent the chance to check/raise the flop. You would then be
forced to play for a relatively large pot with just a 2nd pair hand.
In general, you should play hands with good showdown value more passively to avoid getting caught in large pots.
If you pick up a draw on the flop you should
usually play passively according to pot odds (with the implied odds in
mind, as well). For example, if you are deep stacked and facing a
maniac who can barely bring himself to fold a pair, you can call with a
hidden gutshot based on implied odds.
When you are heads up and out of position, playing
your hand correctly is even more important. You will have a hard time
playing your standard game and contibetting on many different boards.
As a rule of thumb: Take the passive route and check/fold hands with
little potential when you don't have a very good read(s).
When you have a monster you can exploit your opponent's aggression and
balance your check/fold like by check/raising the flop for value. A lot
of maniac's have a hard time interpreting this line and think your
check/raise is a bluff; this often leads to a re-bluff or at least a
call.
You can play very strong draws with decent equity
against most hands very aggressively on the flop. The key is getting
all your chips in on the flop when you have such a draw, since your
equity will sink dramatically if a blank card appears on the board.
How should you play against a maniac multiway?
Maniacs won't try bluffing as often in multiway
pots. In other words, you can generally play according to your hand
strength and board texture and with regard to the total number of
opponents in the hand. There are two exceptions you can make to your
standard game when you have a maniac in a multiway pot:
Use aggression and reduce the number of opponents in the field when ...
- … you have a medium strong hand and are in position.
- … you have a very strong draw and are out of position.
In these cases you want to take advantage of the maniac's aggression
and will either raise his bet directly when you are in position in
order to force other opponents out of the hand, or check/raise the
field as a semi-bluff with a strong draw when you are out of position.
Such a check/raise indicates enormous strength and will generate a high
amount of fold equity. And if you do get called, you will usually have
your money on the table and a fair amount of equity, meaning your
check/raise was +EV overall.
Try to induce a bluff when …
- … you have a (very) strong hand on a dry board and are in position.
If the maniac bets the flop, you can call to
provoke another player to make a loose re-raise and to induce the
maniac to bluff again on the turn. He won't see your flop call as a
sign of strength and will very often bet again.
Conclusion
As you can see, when you are facing such overly
aggressive opponents you can adapt your game to exploit their
individual weaknesses. When playing against a maniac:
- Being in position is even more important.
- Play strong hands should be played aggressively, whereas weaker hands should be folded more often.
- Draws should be played passively in general. The maniac will take care of building up the pot.
- Pure bluffs rarely work against maniacs. You can however semi-bluff in certain spots.
- Maniacs
are the best opponents for trapping. You can, for example, let a strong
hand look like a bluff. Slowplaying vulnerable hands is rarely a good
option. - Medium strong hands are very suitable for inducing bluffs when you are heads up against a maniac.
- If you feel yourself going on tilt or just can't make the right adjustments to your game, leave the table.
Playing against a maniac can be very profitable, but it's not every man's game.
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