How to Fleece a Maniac

I had a bad run of cards today and was down about 25% of my stack. Then, a gentleman sat down two seats to my left. He raised the first hand he was dealt, then raised the flop. When he bet the turn, everyone folded. He did this a few more times, and his stack grew. After a few hands, I smiled on the inside and knew I would soon be back in the green. I had a maniac in the game, and I was in a great position to exploit him.

A maniac is a player who has loose starting requirements (will play many hands) and plays them very aggressively. Such players will experience wild swings in their chip stack, and will generally leave the table broke.

It's very easy to be the one they leave the majority of their chips with. Simply tighten up your play a bit, and play very aggressively when you get a good pocket and hit the flop. You will have to cut back on marginal hands because the maniac will raise many pots, making it expensive for you when the marginal hands don't come in. The last thing you want to do is lose your bankroll on random fluctuations before you have a chance to fleece your sheep.

When you do get a good pocket and/or hit a great flop, use your maniac to push your edge. He likes to bet, so let him. If you hit a great flop but it's vulnerable (for example you have top pair but there's possible straight or flush draws), check-raise. Maniacs by definition raise often, so there's a pretty good chance that he'll bet after you check. Best of all, if he's to your left, his initial bet won't be respected by other players in the hand, so they are likely to call and put more money in the pot before you raise.

If you hit a hand that's likely to stand up after the turn (e.g. you hit top pair or two pair with a rainbow flop with no straight on the board, or better yet you flop the nuts), you might consider check-calling the flop and waiting until the turn (when bets double) to pounce with the check-raise. Even that check-raise on the turn might not scare off your maniac. I played against one tonight who got check-raised on the turn AND on the river - some people never learn.

If you're sitting to the left of the maniac rather than to the right, the strategy is similar. Instead of check-raising your great hands, you'll raise and re-raise them.

One final word of caution - your maniac plays ALL hands aggressively. Usually he'll have an inferior hand, but sometimes he'll have a great hand. Be prepared for the times he either does have great starting cards or hits a miracle flop, turn or river. It will happen, but the odds will be with you. In the long run, his chips will end up in your stack.

Happy fleecing!