Four hands vs. a maniac.

[Rage2100]

Sorry for the long post. All of these hands were against the same villain. He was a complete calling station pre-flop and then turned super aggressive after the flop. His stats after this session were 75.4/29.41/5.51 over 187 hands. I knew I’d get his chips eventually but he seemed to be hitting cards every hand. His graph for this session must have looked like a picture of the Himalayas.
Can I play any of these hands differently, given his aggressive nature? My specific questions are:-

Hand 1: Can I make my bet sizes any different here? I didn’t give him credit for a flush after the turn but when the 4th spade comes on the river I have to fold to his all-in don’t I?
Hand 2: Is it ok to check the flop? Ok to fold to his overbet?
Hand 3: Fold to his overbet again?
Hand 4: At last, I hit a hand. You have to like his fold at the end, leaving himself with $3.68 behind.

Is this the best strategy against these types of maniac players, just sit and wait patiently to hit a big hand? It felt as though I was being pushed around but I wasn’t hitting any cards and he could have had any two at any point.


-----Hand 1-----
Hold'em No Limit ($0.05/$0.10)

CO: ($10.55)
Button: ($12.67)
Hero: ($18.15)
BB: ($4.96)
UTG: ($13.24)
UTG+1: ($5.69)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 4 , 4 .
UTG raises to $0.30, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.25, 1 fold

Flop: ($0.70) 8 , 4 , 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.60, UTG calls $0.60

Turn: ($1.90) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.60, UTG calls $1.60

River: ($5.10) J (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $10.74 (All-In), Hero folds


-----Hand 2-----
Hold'em No Limit ($0.05/$0.10)

CO: ($7.24)
Button: ($13.52)
Hero: ($23.60)
BB: ($8.43)
UTG: ($18.90)
UTG+1: ($2.34)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A , K .
UTG raises to $0.30, 3 folds, Hero raises to $1.20, 1 fold, UTG calls $0.90

Flop: ($2.50) 7 , 8 , 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $4, Hero folds


-----Hand 3-----
Hold'em No Limit ($0.05/$0.10)

UTG: ($5.10)
UTG+1: ($7.98)
Hero: ($21.05)
Button: ($11.12)
SB: ($7.05)
BB: ($10)

Preflop: Hero is CO with T , T .
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, 1 fold, SB calls $0.35, 1 fold

Flop: ($0.90) K , A , 7 (2 players)
SB bets $2.50, Hero folds


-----Hand 4-----
Hold'em No Limit ($0.05/$0.10)

CO: ($10.86)
Button: ($7.52)
Hero: ($18.68)
BB: ($8.33)
UTG: ($15.08)
UTG+1: ($9.20)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q , T .
UTG calls $0.10, 2 folds, Button calls $0.10, Hero calls $0.05, BB checks

Flop: ($0.40) Q , T , A (4 players)
Hero bets $0.40, 1 fold, UTG calls $0.40, 1 fold

Turn: ($1.20) Q (2 players)
Hero bets $0.90, UTG calls $0.90

River: ($3.00) J (2 players)
Hero bets $2, UTG raises to $10, Hero raises to $15.28 (All-In), UTG folds

[zook]

All 4 look very good.

[AnTman_69]

i think u played these good. I like ur flop check with Ak in hand 2 after 3 betting. Its a spot i get into trouble with alot.

[Fnord]

All these hands are very well played.

[Fnord]

I like ur flop check with Ak in hand 2 after 3 betting.

We need to bluff there sometimes, but the money we lose giving up air comes back to us with all the extra action we get when we have it, the added credability when we pick a better spot to bruff and the added confidence he'll have to float around with you because he thinks he can just pick it up when you give up. The 3-bet is mostly a pot-builder so we can value-town all the money in when we hit. Save the auto-c-bet for guys who are much more timid.

[zook]

We need to bluff there sometimes, but the money we lose giving up air comes back to us with all the extra action we get when we have it and the added credability when we pick a better spot to bruff. The 3-bet is mostly a pot-builder so we can value-town all the money in when we hit. Save the auto-c-bet for guys who are much more timid.

Good points. It also sets up the c/r!

[Fnord]

<----- lots of experience abusing the shit out of really retarded live players.

[Rage2100]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I must admit, I'm loving cash games at the moment. It makes a change to see the turn and river without having all my chips in the middle.