Q&A #44: Big Draw Against a Maniac
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Chris asks,
Villian is 80/38/2.38
Will raise garbage preflop, bet with nothing, call with nothing, raise with nothing on any street. He is exceptionally aggressive on the river, stealing pots with huge overbets.Is this good, bad or ugly. He will call huge bets with marginal hands.
Party Poker No-Limit Hold’em, $ BB (4 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)
Chris ($25)
BB ($27.64)
UTG ($195.47)
Button ($50.25)Preflop: Chris is SB with 4:club:, 5:club:. Chris posts a blind of $0.10.
UTG raises to $0.5, 1 fold, Chris (poster) calls $0.40, BB calls $0.25.Flop: ($1.50) 5:diamond:, 2:spade:, 3:spade: (3 players)
Chris bets $1.5, BB folds, UTG raises to $5, Chris pushes $24.90 (All-In), UTG calls $19.50.Turn: ($52.40) T:heart: (2 players, 1 all-in)
River: ($52.40) K:club: (2 players, 1 all-in)
Final Pot: $52.40
Unfortunately, the comment form ate the suits on this hand. (They also ate the suits on speedracer’s question, but the suits seem more important on that hand, so if you’re reading this speedracer, would you mind reposting your hand with the suits?) So I just posited some suits. If these are wildly wrong, Chris, let me know what’s different in the comments.
This question is a quick answer. Chris, this is the flop you’re looking for when you play 54 from the small blind. You flopped an open-ended straight draw and top pair. You have a big equity edge over two unpaired cards, and you’re still about 43 percent against an overpair. To be frank, if you aren’t willing to get it all-in with the maniac on this flop, then you have absolutely no business whatsoever playing 54 from the small blind.
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Tags: blind-play, drawing-hands, maniacs, no-limit-holdem, poker
Ed,
Your suit guessing was pretty good, I had 4,5 of hearts. The flop was 2,5 of clubs and 3 of spades, the turn 10 of spades and river king of clubs.
I posted this hand on 2+2 in the micro-limit forum and most people didn’t like the way I played it – too risky they said, he’s never calling with a hand you beat, etc. I know if the push gets called I’m in trouble, that’s the way it always is, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t the most profitable way to play the hand. I could have called the flop raise, but if the turn misses I have a difficult situation. If I check I face the prospect of a big turn bet (he overbet routinely). I could try a blocking bet but again, he could easily pop me for a raise since that was the way he played.
My opinion on their analysis was that they thought about hands in a weak-tight manner. I did some pokerstove analysis following the hand and I felt that against his massive range, I had at least 55% equity, so I’m fine getting it all in. Overall, I don’t think some of posters grasped adjusting your play to your opponents.
I’m somewhat suprised that you thought preflop this was a fold considering your starting hand recommendations from TAP. I know it was raised and I’m OOP, which changes the situation, but I wasn’t respecting anything this player was doing. It was clear from my observations that he just didn’t have a clue he was playing wildy.
Perfect illustration:
In an earlier hand I raised 5x BB from the button with JJ, with villian in the BB. Villian reraises the minimum. Then I did something very unconventional, I pushed for about 8 times the pot. I knew my hand was best and I knew he would call with just about anything. He did and showed Ace-trey offsuit, so I was about 70% to win, but unfortunately he spiked an ace. This setup my later push with the pair and draw.