In my last column, I discussed some general considerations about playing limit hold'em with maniacs. I promised you a better definition of "maniac," and that is what we will deal with in this column.
When someone starts to bet and raise every hand preflop, most players put them in the category of maniac. However, if you examine the maniac's play more carefully, you may discover a pattern to his aggression. Think of maniacs as falling into one of four categories:
• Predictable maniacs
• Situational maniacs
• Whimsical maniacs
• Expert maniacs
Predictable maniacs, whom you also can think of as "maniacal maniacs," are the ones most people think of when using the term maniac. They simply bet, raise, or reraise virtually every hand preflop, and most hands on the flop, as well. There is no way to tell what they hold, because they do the same thing every time. Nevertheless, we can make some observations about these characters.
First, they often stop being quite so crazy on the turn. When you get three-bet on the turn by a maniacal maniac, he usually has something that he really likes. Of course, what he likes for a given situation may not be the same as something you would like there, but it is rare for all but the craziest maniac to put in multiple bets on the turn with nothing at all.
Second, you definitely want this maniac on your left. I realize that there is a school of thought stating that you want maniacs on your right, so that you can reraise them and knock people out, thus "isolating" the maniac, but this does not work as well at the table as it does in theory, because your opponents rapidly catch on and ignore or reraise your attempts to get this type of maniac to yourself.
Keeping this maniac on your left accomplishes several things:
1. It follows the excellent poker principle that you want predictable players on your left.
2. Because you can be certain that he will raise, you can call with excellent hands preflop or check big hands on the flop and let the maniac drive the field into you. You essentially will have the button almost every hand, at least for the first two betting rounds.
3. The maniac will bet at every flop, thus putting the player on his left under the gun for action after the flop. This is not a desirable position, as he will never know if a raise is coming, and thus must lay down hands he would be able to play if his action closed the betting.
Situational maniacs look a lot like predictable ones, but actually have a trigger that inspires them into hyperaggression. Some like to raise the next bunch of hands after they win a pot, trying to create a rush. Others decide to raise every pot after they lose one, trying to get back to even right away. And some have a mystery trigger that only they know, but you should work hard to figure out.
If you know their trigger, you can actually have them on your left or right. On your left works because you know when they will be raising and you can set traps. If they are on your right, you can make isolation raises before the rest of the field realizes that they have suddenly become temporary maniacs. In effect, they will be predictable to you, while just seeming random to the balance of the players. If you don't know their trigger, they must be on your right, so that you will not be surprised when they suddenly start raising. Work hard to find their triggers, especially if they are regulars.
Whimsical maniacs are almost identical to the situational ones, but do not seem to have reliable trigger points. Once in a while, they just go off for a round, or an hour or more, before settling back down to a somewhat more normal pattern. You will do better if these players are on your right.
In a discussion of these whimsical maniacs, a student asked, "Isn't it still better to have them on your left? You will effectively get the button half the time, and that's pretty good." Yes, it is good to have the relative button more than your fair share, but only if you know when it will happen. Otherwise, you will make costly errors - checking good hands in hope of check-raising the field, only to find that the guy you thought was going to bet now checks behind you.
Players in this category are some of the toughest to play against, because you must assume that a raise by them right out of the blue is a legitimate hand. Once the raises start, those chances go down, but they seem to subside almost as soon as they started. It is thus much harder to get into the flow of their game and to take advantage of their unreasonable play while it is occurring.
Expert maniacs clearly deserve their own category. They are terrific players who choose to randomize their game with massive preflop aggression. They often are playing for lower stakes than usual. They are bored or impatient with the size of the pots and want to gamble. In some cases, they also want to upset those who normally play those stakes and to whom the money means something.
So, they bet and raise preflop with almost every hand, capping every pot that they can. However, here is where the commonality with the more typical maniac ends. After the flop, they play quite well, if still situationally aggressively. If they bet and raise, they have something real. If they play on, it is because they are getting the right price.
Lower-limit players tend to think these expert maniacs are the type they see more often: players who are there for action and do not play well. They give these players (who are admittedly playing some very weak hands) far more action than they deserve, since the expert maniacs are actually making sensible plays post-flop. Even when expert maniacs lay down a hand, they usually continue to make aggressive noises to mask their contradictory play, trying to sound far more maniacal than they are actually playing. Of course, winning an occasional pot with J-3 after three-betting a tight player preflop adds to that image.
Look for actions, not words. If a player does a lot of folding post-flop, and seems to raise at just the right times, he is probably an expert maniac. Of course, these players belong on your right, because even though they play predictably preflop, their post-flop actions are predicated on their chances of winning, not on their desire for action.
Next time, we will take a look at hand selection, and ways to cope with, or even prosper from, one or more maniacs at your table. We also will look at how to play when you cannot sit in the seat that I recommend.
Barry Tanenbaum is the author of Advanced Limit Hold'em Strategy, and a collaborator on Limit Hold'em: Winning Short-handed Strategies, both of which are available at www.CardPlayer.com. Barry offers private lessons tailored to the individual student. Please see his website, www.barrytanenbaum.com, or write to him at [email protected].
