HU against a maniac, how to deal with?

[Pafkata]

You can't fight back with more aggression unless you are very deep-stacked which is possible only on the HU SNG with 3000 chips during the first 15 minutes.

Regular HU SNG with 1500 chips becomes hard to play after 15/30 blinds, because you will usually have less than 50BB.

If you become more aggressive than the maniac - he will be the one who will be trapping and you will donk all of your chips on a bluff.

Check-raising all-in on the flop usually makes maniacs fold even top pair, because they maybe aggressive ,but they are not stupid... Best way to deal is to show weakness and let the maniac bluff. Don't re-raise him , because he won't continue with the bluff.

The easiest way to kill a maniac for me is to call pre-flop with a hand like A7/K8/Q9 and hit top pair 7 to 10 with a good kicker, if the maniac has the same top pair he will keep betting big and you will win with your better kicker.... or you will hit two pair on the turn/river with let's say your Q and the maniac will hit his Q4o and go all-in..

 

[ander]

You should raise strong hands and suited connectors on the button. You make your money against a maniac by flopping a strong hand like a straight or top pair top kicker and letting them bluff into you. Do not play trappy before the flop. Just raise and hope that they 3-bet you when you have aces. You should raise about 66% of your hands against this opponent.

 

[mypokergrind]

It's heads up which means......the cards don't matter.

I don't agree with shoving everything, but aggression wins in HU.

Hu is high varience because of this. I think a "maniac" style is the most profitable style once HU.

 

[lektrikguy]

When you're HU the hand values increase since you're only facing one guy. When you're playing a maniac you gotta fold the really weak hands and shove with the strong ones.

 

[playerk7]

i that situation you need to take the wind out of his sails, you cant wait for that ace sometimes your 107 offsuit is going to be good and you need to play it, becasue he doesnt have a hand everytime he riases you

 

[Grinder101]

That's ok, but my question is...should I have called with just say a K overcard all those times he shoved?
Or did I play it right waiting to get at least a 3rd button to call/shove with? (which didn't come often enough to drain him in the end)

Against a real maniac I kind of keep K9o as my baseline for calling. Any pair above 66 or 77 too depending on my mood . I might sometimes too with QJs. But if you can pick on the times he goes all in with trash then obviously a lot of hands become playable.

 

[MrHopeful]

is he actually raising every hand or appears to be?

HU is defo an aggression based format but it has also to have some sort of variable strategy

I like small ball poker myself but will gladly ship it with any paint card if guy is raising every hand although i like to wait a while before doing so if stacks allow and try and pick him off with a check reraise all in with a good hand 88+ AQ-AK

only a couple nights ago i ran into same scenario and called his all in with KQ v his A4o and lost but even if i had seen his cards I likely call as i am about 40% and although I may be behind the difference in stack sizes and comparisions to payouts for 1st and 2nd have to be taken into consideration

also i find if you start shipping it for a few hands then he likely back off

 

[djlee888]

The science in this is simple. when i am faced in these situations i tighten up. so what if i dont get a hand and 20 big blinds goes by. maths states by waiting for a big hand in this situation a big hand maybe a9 or a10 for example but any pair has got to be a favourite heads up. if you lose your just unlucky regardless. if u have a 1500 chip start and u dwindle down to say 900 and your getting angry the dont!!
chill out and soon you could double up with this type of an apponent very easily. remember 2 double ups even as short as 750 is enough to wipe this guy out..
its not about who has the chips while your playing, its about who has the chips at the end. and the end is the only thing that matters in a game of poker!!
if you find you dont like this type of game too well then mark your opponent with a note and forget he ever existed and move on lol

 

[ComplexPlaya]

That's the simplest yet most articulate answer so far thanks everyone though!

 

[playerk7]

you have to take his momentum away from him...wait for a big hand then bust him...or if your getting blinded out maybe call all in with a middle pair or a draw and take the wind out of his sails when you hit

 

[rollnutilt]

Any two cards will suffice in HU play. You should be willing to call with any hand to see a flop. If you hit even bottom pair and he c-bets shoves allin. You are almost always ahead when he raised you with A10 KQ etc. If you wait for a premium hand you are eliminating yourself from the game. Specially when he's playing that loose just to steal the blinds.

 

[john003]

I used to struggle HU against a maniac in this scenario. Wait for premium holdings just to get blinded out, finally pick up a real hand just to get called by his ATC cause he's gobbled up enough blinds in the process to make this call in effort to bust us.

I've accepted that against the maniac, it's going to be dictated more or less by a 60/40 give or take coin flip. Like someone else said, sometimes any paint will simply do as a good majority of the time, his hand will be worse OR you'll at least have 2 live cards.

I do like waiting it out for a big hand and letting him bluff himself out of the tournament, but I tend to play more STT these days than anything. When there's only 9k in chips on the table for 6 max, and 13.5k for 9 player, when blinds get around the 150/300, or even 200/400 mark, there is no waiting it out. It's crunch time. Ship it with with Q+, sometimes even Js and any PP and hope for the best.

 

[Grinder101]

Heh, played against a maniac just a moment ago. He raising a lot postflop and I got it in with A high on QQJ flush draw board, but he had the queen and called. Looking back I think the push was good no matter what.

 

[atlantafalcons0]

When I run into a player like that I usually just get super aggressive. The more they shove - the worst my starting hand can be to call.