Maniacs make me into a donk

[HiroNakamura]

What about playing the maniac in a limit game? For some reason, maniacs get the best of me. They seem to know when I only have Ace high and their bottom pair is good. Then they'll fold early when I do have a monster hand. To complicate matters are the calling stations that are in the pot as well. Sometimes I'll fold my hand believing that the calling stations who overcall have a better hand than I do, but in reality they're calling down with any part of the board (after all, they ARE calling stations). then the maniac shows down 2nd pair and I fold the winner and it puts me on tilt.

Do I just wait til I have a good hand and let them bluff into me if I have position? That feels so calling-stationesque itself. I've tried raising and reraising with my TPTK type hands, but the pot is so large by that time, everyone is right to call with their 2nd pair-5 out draws (which of course hit part of the time). I can't protect my hand. Just ram and jam and ride the variance wave?

[PokrLikeItsProse]

It sounds like you need to raise more with medium-strength hands, and by medium-strength, I mean a hand like middle pair with an overcard kicker on the flop. Strangely, you are probably also going too far with a hand like TPTK. You should be raising with middle pair more often than you should be capping with TPTK on the flop. Of course, at some tables, you should consider just calling the flop with TPTK and raising the turn.