NL50: first few hands vs maniac

[wrap_it]

hey guys,

here are the first few hands vs a session I played yesterday against a type of player that really tilts me: the maniac
I just can't expoit these guys and that's what I want to learn at all costs because they can be soooo profitable. But as you will see I loose my game very quick when I get played back so hard because I don't know when it's time to get to showdown.
I hope you can give me some hints

#1 readless it seems to be a std fold but what if we hold J4o or A6 here? Can I call then?

#2 I think it's pretty std to raise a 1BB donkbet on such a dry board vs unknown. I double barrel when I improve or some scare cards

#3 now I was relatively sure that he is overaggressive so I called the min3bet and checked the flop behind because most maniacs like to checkminraise the flop or at least call down with A high. Again a std fold on the turn? I think he at least has a very weak pair or A high that he doesn't like to fold.

#4 that was a river mistake I guess. c/c was the better play, right?

#5 I really misplayed that hand. I think it's better to just check PF because he calls anyway or does tricky things like limp/reraising but I have absolutely no clue how to play my draws vs these guys. Do I just c/c the turn or bet/call, call (dunno why I folded the turn)

#6 My plan was to tighten up a little but I think a cbet on a dry A high board is fairly std. Even if I check back every time I miss the board my stack runs away so quickly...what can I do then?

#7 again very similar to #5 this time it's a limped pot. Again I have no clue why I folded the turn but as mentioned above these players really get me off the line and that's why I want to learn how to own them!

#8 fold PF? call 3bet?

#9 here I tried to let him build the pot because he fired the turn 100% of the time when I checked the flop in a limped pot but somehow these guys always know when I have a hand, it's so scary...

#10 and so it goes. How can I exploit these damn min3bets? I mean I can't fold T9 with 4:1 but I also can't c/f every flop and I can't bluff him.

[Colossos159]

Stop folding and checking so often especially to some of his minraises! I'm not a HU player but you fold everytime you dont flop top pair? I also must mention that you actually dont flop alot in these hands but i believe some folds are weak.

[TheDeKay]

Sry, but your villain is really NOT a maniac and you were playing weak/tight... stop playing HU and move to 6max for some time to get more aggro. Cause in HU weak-tight = free money 4 your opponent.

[wrap_it]

6max 50NL/100NL is my usual game but I would like to learn some HU and I don't know how to accomplish that when people tell me I should stop playing or I should just call down more.
I know I played these hands horribly but as I said before these opponents really run me over. Normally I play way more aggressive and I'm still winning player at 50NL but unfortunately one of the most profitable player types is one of my biggest leaks.
Of course I can just call down lighter but that results in complete spew because I probably pick the wrong spots. All I need is a strategy to exploit these types of players (what kind of player is he then? A LAG? I guess a player who min3bets PF is a donk no matter what and such a donk can't be LAG imo) so please just tell me concretely where I made huge mistakes.

Everyone of you has started with playmoney I guess

[TheDeKay]

Hand 1: I do not really like to bet pot and fold to a minraise. I think, that on that board 0.65$ is enough and if he minraises I might just repop him, cause his minraise does not look that strong ^^ So he might have a 6, a 4 or a midpair. If he calls, I might shut down on the turn unless we improve.
Could we call /w J4 here? No... we should raise^^

Hand 3: If you only play this hand, if you improve, I might just dump it pre after his minraise, cause if he has a minraising range of something like AT+, KJ+, 22-TT we are dominated quite often. So a flop of 976 is pretty nice, cause we should take the pot down after his check quite often, if he does have the range above. And if he calls us /w a pp, we still have 2cards to come and he will likely check to us on the turn.
As said: He does not really look like a maniac to me ^^ He is just abusing, that you fold to minbets quite often

Hand 5: Just calling his minraise on the flop is to passiv imo. The turn will be sooo hard to play!
Well, I just stoved our hand against a relative strong range (some flushs, some TP, some nutflushdraws, 2pair+, no bluffs)
equity win tie pots won pots tied
Hand 0: 52.681% 52.35% 00.34% 67223827 430263.50 { KhTs }
Hand 1: 47.319% 46.98% 00.34% 60338446 430263.50 { TT-77, 44, Ah5h, Ah4h, Ah3h, Ah2h, QhJh, JhTh, Th9h, 98s, 87s, Ah9c, Ah9d, Ah9s, Ah8c, Ah8d, Ah8s, Ah7c, Ah7d, Ah7s, 98o, 87o }

=> We are even ahead of his range... maybe the range is bad, but what I want to say: We still have pretty good equity (even if he has a no-nutflush flush we have outs), so I 3bet here.

Hand 7: I might just crai 2barrel him here or just fold (or do something else tricky). A c/c, c/f line or if we hit a c/c, donk line is pretty obvious on a monotone board...

Hand 9: I bet the turn 4 sure and call him down, if he just minraises and makes a small bet on the river.

Hand 10: If you call pre, you should raise him on that board.

[wrap_it]

Thanks alot

Originally Posted by TheDeKay

Hand 1: I do not really like to bet pot and fold to a minraise. I think, that on that board 0.65$ is enough and if he minraises I might just repop him, cause his minraise does not look that strong ^^ So he might have a 6, a 4 or a midpair. If he calls, I might shut down on the turn unless we improve.
Could we call /w J4 here? No... we should raise^^

really? We turn our hand into a bluff then, dont we?

Originally Posted by TheDeKay

Hand 10: If you call pre, you should raise him on that board.

Okay, lets say I raised, he called, turn is a blank K, he leads 1/3 pot.

[TheDeKay]

Originally Posted by wrap_it

Thanks alot

really? We turn our hand into a bluff then, dont we?

Okay, lets say I raised, he called, turn is a blank K, he leads 1/3 pot.

It's hard to turn 2pair+ into a bluff in HU You are value betting, cause every J will call you down.

I'm done /w the hand without reads for this situation, if he calls the raise on the flop. I only double barrel, if I'm quite sure, that he does not call down light, since we rep a very polarized range.
But I just want to say: It's not a standart play, to do this against an unknown. If he min3bet you quite often, you could do it - but cause you said, that he played so aggro I assumed, that he did this with a wide range.

[wrap_it]

ah okay there was a mistake of mine. I didnt mean 2pair with J4 but a weak J like J3, J5 or whatever.

And "turning my hand into a bluff" was referring to the original hand with 76o. I think its okay to turn a weak pair like this into a bluff but I would have a much harder time with A6.