Villain $700
Hero $700
$2-$3 home game

Dealt- QhJh
Utg- fold
Utg1- fold
Utg2- raise to 11
Folds- to sb
Sb- call 11
Bb- hero raise to 40
Utg- raise to 110
Sb- fold
Bb- hero call 110

Flop- $231
7c 2s 4c

Hero- x
Utg2- bet 140
Hero- fold
Utg2 shows q9off


I've had significant history with villain.
Their 3 bet bluff frequency is very very high. They have displayed many 4 bet bluffs. All of this especially vs me. A number of sessions ago I noticed their high open frequency and I started 3 betting very light, I believe this instigated the dynamic between us.

What would be the optimal play vs this preflop raising maniac? Call, 3 bet, 5 bet/call shove?

After a quick equilab check vs their perceived range, we're at 53% equity with QhJh. Facing a 4 bet, knowing villain propensity to bluff in these spots, would a 5 bet of 300 ish be out of the question?

Interesting spot i must say.
Ill start with that you absolutely cant 5bet fold after putting 40% of your stack in.

If you think he is that weak there i think you have to shove and highfive your buddies, You have good blockers to do that with, though i am afraid to play like this hands with such a high ev and i prefer just flatting pre flop.
As i said, as played this is really tricky spot, especially as we have to judge his range blindly. Open to suggestions, if people think we could play it differently than call.

Edit: you take advantage of loose splashy players by playing solid, tight, straight forward poker. I wouldnt go out of line there. If you want to add some bluffs id choose different hands, such as A9s (though this is boarderline too)

Good Luck!

If I choose to re-raise at the opening of the villain (11 in this case), I would retire to his 3bet (40) with QJs. This villain plays any type of hand, so I want to cover more than 50% equity to catch him preflop.
You are also out of position and you have no advantage over your stack, that encourages me to call your OR more.
Against conservative players very rarely I call 3bets out of position with QJs. With maniacs I prefer to re-raise when I have hands worth (range: 8-8 +) or when I have high hands (AK; AQs; KQs).
And when we isolate ourselves with the maniac, it is preferable to play aggressive preflop and always push in a 5bet, to throw all your garbage hands, which could later bother you in soft flops like this.
The important thing with a maniac is to eliminate as much trash combos as possible from their range and one way to achieve this is by pressing harder in preflop, with Premium hands and medium-high pockets.
But it is better if we have a position on the villain and make sure we are alone with him, to reduce the dispersion factor on our line of play.
In this case I would call a his OR and X / F on the flop. We are simply now being overcome by all the marginal combinations that managed to enter.
Greetings.

Sorry 40 y 110 (not 11 and 40)

Just call pre-flop.

You are out of position with a hand that flops well multi-way.

Even if you are ahead of the maniac you have to consider the player that raised in early position (usually strong).

You also have a lot of other chances to punish the loose 3-bettor then you get good AX and good pairs if he is as aggressive as you state.

It is not heads-up or even short handed. In full ring you often have both other players that can interfere - and on the other hand the advantage to wait for better opportunities if you don't want to gamble to much.

I made a mistake in writing the hand history. It is heads up vs villain who is utg2.

Yeah I think I'm just flatting out of position with QJ preflop. That hand plays pretty well multi-way. 3betting and calling the 4bet is responding to maniac play with maniac play. It would be slightly better if you had position, but you don't. In due time, you're going to have AQ or TT or some form of very strong hand...and you'll 3bet and then he'll 4bet and then you'll 5bet and it will be all good things. In the meantime, try playing small ball and wait for more favorable spots.