heads up against a lag

[jordiepop]

any strategy tips for playing against a maniac when its 2-3 handed?? i was playing heads up for a little while and this guy was just raising EVERY hand. always raising my bring in and making it a full bet 50% of the time when he was the bring in. any tips??

[lambchop]

Show them aggression in return, if he's just a crazy maniac and not a good player recognizing weakness then often times he will slow down some. If not, pick your spots and take a [censored] ton of money from him.

[Wahoo73]

As a general rule, I use the "fold or raise" tactic against LAGs in short-handed or HU situations, since "calling" in their minds represents weakness on your part. IMO, the hands to call with are those in which you have a pocket pair higher than their door card(s). Then start jamming them as soon as you can thereafter. Conversely, if you have three random cards that are higher than their door card(s), raise and re-raise them from the start.

[MRBAA]

Hey Jordie, saw you at the table last night (no, I wasn't the maniac). In the FT structure at 2-4 you can let go of your garbage hands rather than call a completion. You'll need to adjust your range of calling hands against an opp who raises every time, but that doesn't mean you have to play junk. The ideal is to be starting better, on average, when you do play a pot, then use good judgement about when to continue beyond fourth. It only takes the occaisonal big pot in this structure tomake up for alot of annoying little steals.

[dsaxton]

You aren't giving up much by folding weak hands in a short-handed stud game with a small ante (the pot isn't very large), so there isn't much need to play back at a maniac without a hand. Just wait for a decent pair that figures to be the best hand, play it aggressively and watch him overcommit with his garbage.

In general, players that are extremely aggressive in short-handed stud games lack a basic understanding of the game and will make expensive mistakes on later streets. Just wait for a decent hand and take advantage of their poor decision-making.

[MRBAA]

Well, more aggressive play is correct in heads up play, to a point. Against a maniac who raises your bring in every time, a hand like (52)5 is a call -- on average it's the best hand. The key is knowing when to continue beyond fourth with those marginal holdings.