Ace baby in the blinds vs a maniac..... how to play?

[Student Caine]

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If this isn't true, then he's missing a huge number of flops and doing nothing (because he's not calling very often) and you'll take down the pot hugely often postflop. Either way this is a good proposition.

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Interesting. This was not something I had considered to that extent....I must retire (well at least sit back) to contemplate the full impact of that statement. In the meantime, help me with ranges plz. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

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[gumpzilla]

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So my preflop ranging sucks - what do we think his range is in both scenarios?

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If it's folded to him in the SB, with those stats he has two cards. In the other case, he'll probably call you in the BB with something like top 40 or 50%. This is a range that includes such monsters of poker as J5s and K2o. Against the entire range, you're only about breakeven, but if you hit an A then you're going to be in excellent shape, and that's the main scenario to consider.

[Student Caine]

Thanks Gump.

What do you think about raising for information on how to play future hands against this guy (as I posted here )?

Is there any merit in this or am I friggin' retarded and leaking chips?

[QuadLaser]

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I definitely welcome any comments from other posters as I am certainly no pro, and just because I take a line does not mean it is not a leak.

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Great great write up! I think at this point I am just wrestling with having a hand in the SB that I KNOW is ahead of ATC, but still folding. We are just admitting he can outplay us post flop. However, I think its just too little EV gained to be worth the high variance of playing a hand like this. Thanks a ton for everyones contributions!

[gumpzilla]

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Thanks Gump.

What do you think about raising for information on how to play future hands against this guy (as I posted here )?

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I would prefer not to bloat the pot preflop against this guy. Given how loose he is preflop, any raise I make I expect to get called, and I'd prefer to keep the pot small until I see whether an A comes. Against guys who play like this, I tend to like inflating the pot with very good hands, and maybe occasionally raising to isolate with middling hands, but otherwise just trying to see cheap flops, especially if I'm the one with position.

[wslee00]

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I would prefer not to bloat the pot preflop against this guy. Given how loose he is preflop, any raise I make I expect to get called, and I'd prefer to keep the pot small until I see whether an A comes. Against guys who play like this, I tend to like inflating the pot with very good hands, and maybe occasionally raising to isolate with middling hands, but otherwise just trying to see cheap flops, especially if I'm the one with position.

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I agree with this post, but you seem to give contradictory information in your other posts, i.e., A5 will be killing his range, therefore you should raise.

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but if you hit an A then you're going to be in excellent shape, and that's the main scenario to consider.

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It's RARE to find a maniac that is going to go all-in on an A high flop without at least an A.

[ama0330]

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I don't think the reverse implied odds of hitting an A are necessarily that bad.

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sorry, but i completely disagree with this statement. Maniac will go hard on an ace high flop if he has an ace. We only have A5 - how many times do you think we're going to be good here?

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Agree, I definitely fold in both scenarios, and I don't think its close

[gumpzilla]

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I agree with this post, but you seem to give contradictory information in your other posts, i.e., A5 will be killing his range, therefore you should raise.

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I don't think I said anywhere that you should 3bet him. I'll lead with A5 if I'm from the SB, but that's just because I don't limp anything from that spot. A5 will be ahead of his range if he's opening from SB, and about breakeven with a likely calling range if you're leading SB to his BB.

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but if you hit an A then you're going to be in excellent shape, and that's the main scenario to consider.

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It's RARE to find a maniac that is going to go all-in on an A high flop without at least an A.

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I don't play with a HUD, so I don't tend to correlate stats perfectly to my impressions of people, but I'd imagine 50/30/5 is also pretty damn rare at the micros, as opposed to something more like 50/30/1.5 or so. If he's betting modestly on all streets, you can play a perfectly legitimate pot that way. As others have intimated, you need a slightly more complete read to figure out all of the details of exactly how you should play this, but in general if I catch an A in this spot against somebody playing like that I'm feeling pretty good about my chances of winning a medium sized pot.

EDIT: He's betting or raising 5 times more often than calling postflop, and he's probably seeing something like 40% of flops. This HAS to mean he's either bluffing a ton or shutting down when he whiffs, which is going to be near all the time. Knowing which of those two it is is important, but once you know either seems hugely exploitable.

[john voight]

I play similar stats to you, a little more agro though. Also I play deep, so IDK how I woudl change for 100bb game, but what I will say is:

Easy fold from SB, and easy 3 bet from BB IMO.