Lagtard on my left and I'm lost

[Harv72b]

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I disagree....your implied odds go down not up...you or 4 bettign before you even see the flop...that's 1/4 your implied odds....yes you make some back if the mainiac keeps raising(does he here its not been stated). on the big betstreets...nbut its not usely enough.

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Not only is the maniac going to put in at least a few raises postflop (that's kind of the definition of a maniac), but nobody else at the table is going to respect either his raises or your re-raises (you might just be trying to isolate on him, right?), at least not until the turn. So while yes, you end up paying more preflop to shoot for your set, you are going to more than make up for that postflop in a game like this.