Tough spot

[DaHawk]

In playing in tournaments how do you deal with a maniac to your right with a huge chip stack and a maniac to your left with a huge chip stack and with super tight players to follow? I find myself stuck in this position and patience seems to be the key and let themselves break each other, but sometimes I can't afford to wait that long as my chip stack shrinks and my chip advantage and thus my advantage to go deep goes out the window. How do you deal with this situation? Given that perhaps in the tournament I'm not willing to risk all my chips whether I feel as though I might be ahead or not. I've tried this plenty of times with AA, Kk, AK suited, all premium and get chopped up. How do you handle this situation?

 

[Kenzie 96]

In this situation you can't insist on waiting on a big hand to magically appear. No starting hand is guaranteed to hold up, even if it does & you have only 2 or 3 blinds left your still in the same position. Expand your range, shove & hope, maniacs who won't call you with really wide ranges aren't maniacs.

 

[BIGAUS]

Yes I agree, expanding your range with the players playing extreme on both ends will hopefully give you some opportunities to play post-flop and find situations where you can win some pots so you're not dominated by the big chip stacks on your left and right as much.

 

[fundiver199]

Given that perhaps in the tournament I'm not willing to risk all my chips whether I feel as though I might be ahead or not.

This is the key problem. At any point in a tournament we need to be willing to risk all our chips, if its +EV. So while patience is required against a maniac (bluffing them is often suicidal), we need to be willing to get our chips in, when odds are in our favour. This can sometimes mean calling them down with a bluffcatcher, where we might have folded against a tight player. Or it can mean 4-bet jamming a hand like AJ for value, especially if we are out of position.

 

[nuttea]

In playing in tournaments how do you deal with a maniac to your right with a huge chip stack and a maniac to your left with a huge chip stack and with super tight players to follow? I find myself stuck in this position and patience seems to be the key and let themselves break each other, but sometimes I can't afford to wait that long as my chip stack shrinks and my chip advantage and thus my advantage to go deep goes out the window. How do you deal with this situation? Given that perhaps in the tournament I'm not willing to risk all my chips whether I feel as though I might be ahead or not. I've tried this plenty of times with AA, Kk, AK suited, all premium and get chopped up. How do you handle this situation?

Is this some kind of glade psychology? People don't like to adapt and play like the rest of the meadow? Do not hesitate to provoke the betting maniac! He will deliver it himself, just give me a reason.As for provoking a maniac to bluff, everything is very interesting here. I've seen a lot of newbies try to slowplay strong hands against a passive person who doesn't bet himself. I've seen bad slowplay, I've seen good ones, but I remember that people completely forget to slowplay against a maniac. It turns out to be a very prosaic situation, and I don't even know why this is so. Against passive people who always check, newbies check, believing that now he will bet, and against the maniac, on the contrary, they bet all three streets, knowing that he himself likes to bluff, and we either squeeze him out or do not get the maximum.

 

[GRIN281289]

It is necessary to understand the psychology of a poker maniac, they often act monotonously, our goal is to ruin his plans. Don't be afraid to take risks like pushing all-in on his raise or re-raising, you can check-call all streets. Add more variations to your game and the maniac will calm down

 

[LFC_yllnwa]

A big bank, that puts pressure on you is a big problem, I think it's good, when you simplify your game, because you don't have many opportunities for different game options. But do not completely go into the passive and play only good hands, because the leader of the table has more opportunities to expand the range. It is very important to find weaknesses, when you can put pressure on a player, for this you need to carefully study each player and have a lot of experience for different situations at the table. All-in will not be a bad option in this situation, but you need to play carefully on the preflop and think through every step. Do not play a joke with the leader of the table, or show crazy aggression, it is stupid and not will be a salvation for you.

Super tight players also have large pressure zones, because they limit themselves in the game. The pressure on these players allows you to take a lot of free chips, but you need to carefully monitor the size of the bets and possible combinations, because it is almost impossible to knock them out, when the draw is open on the table....

 

[poliaris747]

I would advise you if you constantly have such a situation, take a short break, think about all your previous hands and just relax, I hope that after a well-spent break, your game will get better.