Maniacs

what makes gus hansen so successful playing like a maniac? I like to play like this or loose aggressive and i win alot of money but then ill lose a big pot because i dont fold when i know i should.

btw, i met some guys at a bar the other night and then 6 of us played a twenty dollar tourney, i destroyed them whilei was playing super aggressive

According to Gus, he only appears to play like a maniac; he says there is a logical reason for every move he makes...........to him. We mere mortals might not understand it.

The benefit to super LAG play is forcing your opponents into significant decisions often, and hitting your hands when you have to. The drawback to continuing to play exclusively this way is running into a huge hand that you can't back down. What makes players like Hansen so succesful is the ability to change gears often, and keep everybody off balance.

Aggressive only works if you use it as an overdrive gear for short spurts of activity. While any good poker player will pick up on your tendencies if you play either tight or loose without deviating from a single strategy, you're probably better off going with tight. Take Danneman, for instance. The man readily confesses to being only the 4th best player in his home game but has made a name for himself by playing consistently tight and conservative in high profile tournaments. Conversely, consider Mike "The Mouth". He is the type of donkey I have cursed time and time again after getting my perfectly played and perfectly superior cards sucked out on the river by some miracle "4 outer" after I have priced the caller out of every reveal on the board. Any success he has had is due to nothing but luck, which in case you haven't noticed has a lot to do with the outcome of any hand you're in, no matter your odds pre-flop. 7,2 off-suit can certainly defy the odds and flop full house every now and then and tight play will not guard against this. Who actually pushes with K's or A's expecting someone to call with 7-2? However, in the long run, tight play will prevail and will be rewarded that much more when you decide to shift into your special "loose play overdrive gear". Loose play, in the long run, results in a "Matusow Blow Up". Seriously, that guy should go back to making coke deals so he can go back to prison, which is where he probably learned his donkey style of play by scamming smokes off of the inmates.

Through the wonders of the holecard cam, we can see that Gus Hansen is technically NOT a "maniac", at least not the true poker definition. He is actually just a LAG who is really good at changing gears and spotting weakness.

I think his style is a success for 2 reasons:

• He mainly plays against good opponents. "Good" meaning those who know when to lay down. Put him in with a bunch of donkeys who never fold and he would not have such an advantage.
• He wins with big hands as much as he gets caught bluffing and he tries to play them both the same way. His opponents never know if he has the goods or is yankin' their chain.

Just my 2 cents.

This is What I believe to be the secret to Gus's success