You’ve settled into your chair at your favorite poker room or online and are ready to play some world-class, A-game poker. After a short time, however, a player comes to the table who starts to get, for lack of a better term, “crazy.” Pumping up pots with straddle bets, raises from out of position, and other action-garnering devices, the maniac asserts his table presence. To make matters worse, he is winning from players you were taking the chips from with your A-game.
I have seen many players go on tilt from playing against such maniacs and it is easy to see how they fall into that hole. The mindset of some players becomes “I’m going to get that sucker” rather than playing excellent poker and using the game to get the chips. There are three P’s that a player has to learn to be able to prevent from becoming one who spews chips to the maniac.
Position
The first way to have some power over the maniac at the table is to have position. If, for most of the hands, you can have the advantage of having him act before you, you can at the minimum gauge his actions and, when he either shows or goes to showdown, get an idea of the cards he is playing. If he is a true maniac, he is winning with some less than desirable hands, while occasionally showing down a monster.
Having this positional advantage will make it possible, if you have acquired a solid table image, to 3bet and, on some occasions, force him to leave the hand. Be mindful, though, that the maniac player is one who doesn’t fold something unless it is complete junk; you have to be prepared to play your hand, no matter how bad, if you get called on your 3bet bluff.
If you are out of position, you options are limited. You can wait until you have one of the few plays in position to decide to attack but, once again, you are probably going to head to the river. Thus, you are going to have to execute the second of the three P’s.
Power
There are two ways to use power to defeat the table maniac. The first, through a dominance of chips, is pretty easy to execute. Sometimes, the table maniac is there for the quick hit and run, to get a good score, or to make enough to get into a tournament. By having a larger chip stack than the maniac, you can thwart his indiscriminate play by coming over the top of him. After a few timely re-raises – remember, you can’t go overboard or you will just encourage him – the maniac will realize that when you’re in a hand, it is probably best that he doesn’t engage you.
The second method, and the one that most players will try to use to combat the maniac, is through the power of the cards. If a maniac is coming with questionable offerings, coming back at them with strong hole cards – and, yes, making some hands – will either slow him down or eliminate him from the table quickly. Strong hole cards, in this case, are big pocket pairs, A-K, or A-Q.
If you hit your set on the flop or make top pair, then let the maniac drive the car to the turn. If nothing comes there to change your dominant situation, spring upon the maniac with a re-raise and see if he is willing to give you even more of his chips. If he continues on, the opportunity to cripple and/or crush the maniac is yours.
Of course, to get the power cards, you have to execute the final part of the three P’s plan.
Patience
Perhaps this is the most important of the three P’s because you don’t want to become like the maniac himself. If you begin to enter more hands, play loosely, and show weak offerings, then you have set yourself up to be targeted as the maniac. A full exercise of poker skills is necessary to remain patient at the table and let a situation set itself up.
You must have the patience to wait for a strong starting hand to take on the maniac and you must be patient and wait for the time when you are in position. As you see, without the patience factor, the three P’s becomes ineffective.
Some Final Thoughts
Battling a maniac at the poker table can be exhausting work not only for your bankroll, but also for your mentality. It is critical that you don’t fall into the trap of trying to be the one who busts the maniac from the game because this will tremendously affect your play and could cause a significant financial loss. You must stay inside your strengths to be able to engage the maniac fully when the situation is in your favor.
And, finally, who said you have to break the maniac? By not falling into this mental trap of trying to be the table sheriff, you are able to take advantage of the other players at the table who are dropping the level of their game in response to the maniac’s plays. Through a proper usage of the three P’s, you should be able to get the chips from all of your opponents and not jut the maniac.
