Maniac Play Continued

Okay, well I got some responses to my post about maniac play which is really cool. In response to those posts, I wanted to talk a little bit about hand selection.

A lot of poker authors, pro's, novices, and commentators love to wax philosophical about playing tight aggressive poker. Using good hand selection to beat your opponents. The problem is, if everyone is using good hand selection, the only time pots are going to be big and get lucrative is when two monster hands clash. A great deal of online players who really think they know what they are doing stick to maybe the top 10 or 15 hands when playing. While this is a nice strategy to make poker simplistic, these players will never be able to butcher a game. I mean sit down, play 30 hands, break 2 people and make everyone else at the table piss their pants. Poker is not meant to be a simplistic game played by hard and fast rules. Ring game poker should be played with every hand in a vaccuum, save information you've included about your opponents.

Since I started experimenting with maniac play, I've gotten a lot of grief from players I've beaten with jackpot hands; "How could you play 23 suited to a raise?" It's simple, I knew what I was trying to make with it, if I didn't make it I could let it go. For instance, in that Q2s hand I posted, I called a pretty significant raise with a mediocre hand. Some people would call that a donk move. I disagree. If I had called with that hand and made top pair with my Queen a played it fast, I agree that would have been a donk move. This is a very important part of playing like a maniac: You have to be able to know when your hand is good. I played that Q2s hand because I knew if the flop hit me big it would be almost impossible for it to hit my opponents big, (unless one was holding AQ). For example, I would play Q2s to a raise, but not ATos. Here's the reasoning: First of all the Q2 is suited and gives me a pretty good shot at being best should I hit my flush shorthanded, the AT is off suit. Second of all, the AT is most likely dominated by the hand that is raising me unles my opponent is overplaying an underpair, the Q2s not so much. If I hit trip aces in a a raised pot with ATos, I need to still be afraid. If I hit trip Q's in a raised pot with Q2, I'm not going to worry as much.

Now while all of that sounds pretty good, I'm sure there are some people out there saying, "yes but you're still going in behind." That's fine, and I'll tell you why. I have a pretty good idea of what I need to make in order to have a good shot at winning the pot. I know my opponent is strong so that greatly decreases the range of hands I need to try to put him on post flop. But that's not the important thing. The important thing is my opponent has NO FUCKING IDEA what I have. All he knows is that he's got a big one, so when that flop comes out a seemingly harmless Q28, he's gonna pay me off the whole ride. He knows I'm an aggressive player, which gives me a lot of options as to how to play the hand to break him.

If I think he's a loose cannon and is liable to stand up for himself it's easy, I just bet at the pot hard and try to make it look like a steal right away. If I think he's more reserved, I can try to feign being on a draw and then make a huge bet on the end to try to convince him I missed and I'm shopping. The second strategy is definitely riskier only reccommend doing it if you also have a decent redraw. The third and best way is to let him bet himself broke, he showed preflop strength, so he's prolly going to lead into you, call him. If he checks on the turn, overbet it big, make him think you think he's weak and you're trying to buy it. If he bets again, call or reraise depending on what falls, how you think your opponent plays, etc.

I know this is a rather disjointed explanation and is not meant to be taken literally. As I hope you've gathered by now, there is no script to play maniac style, you just go on feel. I've never surfed, but I imagine it's similar, lol. This explanation is more for the sake of illustrating general principles: You oppress the weak and let the "strong" go too far. I say "strong" because as the maniac you're obviously the strongest prescence, perhaps "bold" would be a better word.

Just remember, in low limit shorthanded games most players are still playing tight aggressive. They are playing a small selection of hands fast and not aggressively attacking pots. If you only play top15 hands, even if you're aggressive, there's not a whole lot differentiating you from the rest of the table. However, if you can SKILLFULLY, play a wide range of hands, it will open up to you many profitable opprotunities that your opponents don't even know how to take advantage of.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about

Here's a hand I played for implied odds on my flush, I know it was a raised pot, but part of this style is seeing a lot of flops and letting yourself get lucky. Granted I could've paid $2.35 for nothing, but if you can play hands like this and not make mistakes and instead let your opponents make them (which they will be more prone to do if they're uncomfortable) it can be very profitable in the long run.


Full Tilt Poker Game #527687844: Table Faiss (6 max) - $0.10/$0.25 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:41:56 ET - 2006/03/27
Seat 1: mrhenwen ($20.50)
Seat 2: dallygooduiy ($10.45)
Seat 3: slapant ($37.85)
Seat 4: ColdE ($22.10)
Seat 5: elg123 ($26.50)
slapant posts the small blind of $0.10
ColdE posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ColdE [2s Qs]
elg123 calls $0.25
mrhenwen raises to $0.75
dallygooduiy folds
slapant folds
ColdE calls $0.50
elg123 raises to $3.10
mrhenwen calls $2.35
ColdE calls $2.35
*** FLOP *** [7s Th 2h]
ColdE checks
elg123 checks
mrhenwen checks
*** TURN *** [7s Th 2h] [2d]
ColdE checks
exsquid069 sits down
exsquid069 adds $25
elg123 bets $0.25
mrhenwen calls $0.25
ColdE raises to $5
elg123 raises to $23.40, and is all in
mrhenwen folds
ColdE calls $14, and is all in
elg123 shows [Kc Qd]
ColdE shows [2s Qs]
Uncalled bet of $4.40 returned to elg123
*** RIVER *** [7s Th 2h 2d] [4h]
elg123 shows a pair of Twos
ColdE shows three of a kind, Twos
ColdE wins the pot ($45.65) with three of a kind, Twos
ColdE: ????
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $47.65 Rake $2
Board: [7s Th 2h 2d 4h]
Seat 1: mrhenwen folded on the Turn
Seat 2: dallygooduiy (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: slapant (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: ColdE (big blind) showed [2s Qs] and won ($45.65) with three of a kind, Twos
Seat 5: elg123 showed [Kc Qd] and lost with a pair of Twos

Playing Like A Maniac

Ok boys and girls, I've been really really busy with a whole bunch of personal stuff lately so I apologize for not updating. At first I went through a little period where I just lost interest in the game. Playing so much limit, I started to become mechanical which was dangerous for two reasons; I wasn't evaluating my play to look for potential holes or places I could improve, and I was just plain getting bored as I just wasn't getting a whole lot of joy out of playing. If you ever find yourself falling into a rut like this, take a break. If you're not having fun, there's no point in playing. If you're not critically evaluating your own play, it's only a matter of time before it begins to deteriorate. If you're getting bored with a game, you're not going to be able to focus as well, which is one huge reason why it is important to play different variations of poker, not just NLHE or whatever you're comfortable with.

So anyway, I took some times off, focused on other things for a while and now for the past week I've been playing steadily again. I know previously I primarily focused on Limit Hold 'Em. Since I've returned however, I've begun to play quite a bit of low stakes NLHE shortanded ring games. These games are generally pretty soft and the players are usually pretty easy to put on hands, so I decided to experiment with a new strategy; playing as a maniac.
Anyone who plays me knows I am a very aggressive player by nature, so this seemed to me to be a logical progression in my game. There are many advantages to using this style effectively.

First of all, a lot of players, especially at low limit, are not very good at putting people on hands, meaning they will simply see you are aggressive and you have a good chance of getting paid off if you catch a hand and they're fed up with you bullying the table. Second of all, a lot of players at lower limits do not really know how to deal with an aggressive player who is capable of making good folds. Most will just sit back and wait for a hand and then hope the aggressive player bets into them and pays them off. If you can play a super aggressive style, yet at the same time are able to make tough laydowns, inexperienced or bad players really do not have a lot of recourse against you.

Finally, poker is a game of comfort levels. If you can take a player out of his or her comfort zone and make them play in an environment they are not accustomed to, you make them face situations they aren't familiar with. Basically to put it simply; if you make people make tough decisions they haven't made before, they tend to fuck up... a lot. I've never said I was a great or even good poker player, but if you put me at a table and I am able to push the people at that table out of their comfort zone, I will win damn near everytime. You don't have to be good to do that, you just have to know what you're doing and have everyone else not know. All of the sudden your opponents become defensive and reactive and they're not having fun. They're not thinking clearly and they're not making you make tough decisions.

Now, all of that being said, playing like a maniac successfully is like walking a tightrope. This style lends itself to big swings. This style means you have to be willing to pump up a pot and then fold if you think you're beat. It also means you have to be decent at putting another player on a hand. Most importantly you have to walk a fine line between aggressive and stupid. You want the table to think you're a very loose player, but you don't want them to think that because you're making bad calls, playing at the wrong pots, or raising with just any two cards out of position. It's definitely madness, but there is damn sure a method to it. Oh yeah, and I don't advocate doing any of this shit in a full ring game otherwise you're just asking for an ass-whooping.

First of all position is huge. If I'm on the button or even one off in an unopened pot, two paint cards are a monster, I'm raising preflop. Second, speculative hands are huge. I'm raising unopened pots with suited connects and even some offsuit connects in any position. Third, fear the raise or reraise preflop. People know you like to play hands, they want to punish you for it, don't let them. I'm not saying if you make it a buck to go and someone makes it 1.75 fold preflop, but be ready to muck on the flop when you call and don't hit. Play your draws aggressively and don't let people get free cards ever, ever, EVER... fuckin ever. Classic example which happens quite frequently at lower limits, I raise preflop to $1, my standard raise. Flop comes out and someone bets .25. I don't care if I have 7 fucking 2 I'm coming back over the top, if they reraise that, maybe I'll slow down. Basically people win pots when you let them, it's that simple. Some players advocate that the money in the pot is in the pot, it doesn't belong to anyone. When I'm playing this style it's more like "that's my money, I'm taking it, and you can't have any unless I let you." If someone has a hand that I don't feel confident that I can get them to lay down, I'll let them win, otherwise, tough shit, ship it. Once again though, this makes the ability to read your opponents essential. If you're not confident in your reading ability, do not play this style.

Also, if you raise preflop, you keep firing until someone gives you a good reason not to. Your opponents should be the ones playing scared, not you. I will keep throwing out bets 60% to 80% of the pot until it becomes apparent I can not win the hand outright and my opponent will not lay it down. This brings up another point; don't be afraid of the Boogeyman. If the flop comes out suited, make your opponent convince you he or she hit. I'm not saying bet blindly, if you're beginning to get the sense he or she may have a hand, by all means relinquish the pot, but that pot is yours until you give it up.

I know some of you reading this prolly think I've finally lost it, and some of you prolly just think I'm a donk, and that's ok. I know this type of play is not for everyone, but I've recently found it to be very successful. I will probably be posting more on this in a few days but for now I'll leave you with this:

If you can ever force your opponents to either play your game and not theirs, or play for more money than they are comfortable with at any given time, you will have a distinct advantage over the rest of the table.