[Nick C]

Interestingly, since you folded hands 2 and 4 and Villain mostly just called in hands 1 and 3, we can't really see how much of a maniac he is.

Hand 2: I know your hand is ahead of Villain's preflop range, but I think just calling preflop is an option. I'm not so sure I want to bloat the pot preflop versus someone who's often going to try to take it away from me (and will sometimes succeed). Plus, despite how big the pot has gotten preflop, I'm not sure how happy we should be if we hit TPMK or 2PTK and all the money does go in.

Er, I don't know -- that was just a thought -- but I tend to play more defensively and more trappily against these guys. But despite what I said, the 3-bet probably has some SPR advantages to it. I just worry about my ability to play chicken with a maniac in big pots, and very frequently that's what's going to end up happening.

Anyway, I am tempted to call that river, but I probably decide against it once 5x gets there on the river and Villain suddenly pushes. I'm certainly not confident I didn't lay down the best hand, though.

Hand 3: I know you want to play against this guy, but I probably wait for something better than JTo. The hand did work out for you nicely, though.

Hand 4: It's possible I'm being results-oriented, but I probably just check it back at Villain again on the turn. Part of the idea is to encourage a river bluff (see Hand 3) from hands Villain wouldn't have called with. Also, I'm not confident the maniac is only checkraising better hands. But his line does in fact look trappy, so once you bet and he does checkraise, I think the fold is probably best.