Changing Your Play in Limit Texas Holdem: Part 1 – The Loose Maniac
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Every decent poker book I’ve ever read has been consistent in at least 2 things. 1- Better hands are needed in earlier positions, and 2- Change your play. Position and style varying are the hardest two things to really understand in poker and yet when you read books they barely let you know what they mean.
I will follow this article with the other styles of poor play, but for now let us focus on changing play against a player that plays too many hands. I like to think of every player at the table as a function of every other player. Classic example is where an opponent is oblivious to position. For example, you are playing in a relatively decent table where most opponents understand position reasonably well. Your average player at this table is tight enough to fold AJo under the gun, but not AQo; they know the odds and play accordingly. One guy is putting the whole table out of whack playing any 2 cards T or greater, any suited connected, and any pair from any position. Most of the players will pick up on this rather quickly. And they are likely to try to take advantage of the situation, often incorrectly.
I like to think of the entire table as a team. Normally you’re in there grinding out one-or-two bets an hour from your fellow players, but now a new opportunity arises: the whole table gets paid. You are all trying to do one thing, bust this guy without stepping on each-other’s toes. The more you guys fight over his chips the better odds the moron gets on his bad calls, the more marginal hands you play with someone else involved, the lower the expected value. In these situations if you have a strong hand, narrow your field. If you have a marginal hand considering the strength of your opponent, go ahead and fold. Marginal hands against maniacs especially with a good table behind you are a recipe for high variance.
In other words, you want to adjust your play only because you have LESS information and may have a higher chance of winning a pot if the showdown goes to you and the maniac. Be on alert that some players adjust their play incorrectly in this situation. Watch for them to play suboptimal hands against raises. If you see this and have an opportunity to make them pay extra to play a hand, take it. For more on this see the article: a little thing on position.
