Today, we're going to be discussing what to do when there's a maniac at your table. This information comes directly from a section of my new book, How to Beat Players Who Never Fold, by D&B Publishing, available now on Amazon.
A lot of people don't like it when there's a maniac at their table, but that's just because no one's ever taught them how to deal with the maniac.
Maniacs can actually be a source of a lot of profit, but you have to be brave and have to be gambling with money you can afford to lose. If you're not willing to get your chips in, that's exactly what the maniac preys upon.
Pay attention. Most maniacs actually have specific boards that they go after if they're really crazy. They might go after ace-high boards because they think if you just called preflop you would have re-raised with A-K, A-Q or A-J, etc. They think they can get you to fold those weaker aces by the river.
They might go after boards where there's flush draws and straight draws because they believe you likely would have raised with a set or two pair to protect yourself. They think you're sitting on one pair and they can bluff you off of that hand. If you can find the specific board that they like going after, you can make a decent hand and then just call them down.
It's very similar to being in a coin-flip situation early in a tournament. You're going to win 50%, 60%, and 70% of the time, but you're going to have to get your chips in and hope for the best.
Obviously, sometimes the maniac hits a random two pair, or rivers their backdoor straight, whatever it is. That's not fun. But generally, you're going to catch them a lot more than you realize. Most maniacs are bullies, and nobody's actually stood up to them. You would be surprised how often they're bluffing.
Also pay attention for fake maniacs. Don't fall for the fake maniac ploy. We talked about that last week. Fake maniacs just three-bet when somebody opens a little too much and they might slip out an overbet once in a while when somebody has a weak range. But in general, when they're betting big on the river, when the pot started with multiple players, they actually have something good. Donāt pay them off.
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