50NL TP bad kicker against a maniac

peterchi · #1 01-13-2007, 12:48 AM

Villian is 98/48/6 in ~50 hands
He has about $65 to start the hand, I cover.

In the last couple of orbits, he has re-raised every single hand pre-flop. Literally.

My table image is probably fairly LAG, but I don't know if he's noticed... he's been re-raising everyone, not just me.

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.25/$0.50
9 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is CO with A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]
5 folds, Hero raises to $2, Button folds, SB raises to $3.5, BB folds, Hero calls.

(his hand range is still any two cards)

Flop: 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] ($7.5, 2 players)
SB bets $5.5, Hero calls.

(he hasn't ALWAYS c-bet, so he might've gotten some piece of this flop, although it could be as little as a backdoor gutshot, or one spade).

Turn: 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] ($18.5, 2 players)
SB bets $16.5, Hero raises to $33, SB calls.

(he hasn't always fired two barrels, so now he probably has a pair, or maybe one of the flush draws and/or a straight draw. I have seen him fire a HUGE second barrel with bottom pair a couple of times, in fact I doubled through him on that once. My thinking is that I'm not ready to lay this down, but I don't really love my hand either. I didn't want to smooth call again because I thought that would tempt him to move on any river with any cards, which is not the decision I wanted to face. But I don't think my move is any better...)

River: Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] ($84.5, 2 players)
SB is all-in $23.9...

(...because now I felt pot-committed getting 5:1 on this call, although it's much less likely that I'm ahead now).

Anyone got a better plan here??

BTW, I am a limi-donk at heart, if that wasn't entirely obvious by how I played this hand. Trying to change my ways...

Bowlboy · #2 01-13-2007, 01:23 AM

Against a player like this, I'm waiting for a better hand to go to war with than this. I find this type of hand/villain difficult to play here because I seem to get it all in with the worst of it. Pocket pairs for set value are gold against these guys.

peterchi · #3 01-13-2007, 01:40 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Against a player like this, I'm waiting for a better hand to go to war with than this. I find this type of hand/villain difficult to play here because I seem to get it all in with the worst of it. Pocket pairs for set value are gold against these guys.

[/ QUOTE ]
True, that would be ideal, but I want to become comfortable pushing small edges too. Plus, the one time I did flop a set on him, I didn't quite get to stack him as he went away on the river. This guy is an ATM waiting to be tapped; I shouldn't need to be armed with a tank to take that money.

Well... so here, you fold the turn? Because surely we're not folding pre-flop, or on the flop...

Bowlboy · #4 01-13-2007, 01:56 AM

[ QUOTE ]
True, that would be ideal, but I want to become comfortable pushing small edges too.

[/ QUOTE ]

I too would like to be comfortable pushing small edges in situations like this. You're probably either wa/wb though in this hand. Either you have a bigger pair than his smaller pair, or in some cases his pure bluff or draw etc, or you have kicker problems. I think my track record of playing marginal hands against LAG's like this is just horrible. I've had so many bad experiences with getting the money in as a favorite and having them sucking out more than once in a session causing me to drop 2-3 buyins. Other times, I feel outplayed in a sense because I was induced to call off my stack when I'm an underdog. Unless the LAG is a talented LAG, there's a good chance you'll get a good chunk of his stack.

You dont have to stack him the first time he raises into you preflop with AA but if you can get to showdown against him a couple of times and win against a typical LAG you can slow them down against you. This will allow you to get more tricky against them. Just my 2cents.

natzucowww · #5 01-13-2007, 02:08 AM

call call call's a decent line we have a marginal hand that's likely to be good against this guy even though he's firing psb's (read). if he has a monster hey at least you didn't raise but you don't want to wait for the nuts against this guy so getting to showdown as cheap as possible is probably the safest route.

shoxbb6 · #6 01-13-2007, 02:22 AM

Turn raise is bad. If you're going to raise, you're better just pushing than minraising. I think simply calling all 3 streets against this villain is best, especially since he's so aggressive.

Check_The_Nuts · #7 01-13-2007, 02:26 AM

I have no idea what your doing on that turn. Not a clue. I think you did probably the worst thing possible IMO.

Why the hell would you minraise that turn with a super marginal hand (against even a maniac)?

peterchi · #8 01-13-2007, 02:37 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I have no idea what your doing on that turn. Not a clue. I think you did probably the worst thing possible IMO.

Why the hell would you minraise that turn with a super marginal hand (against even a maniac)?

[/ QUOTE ]
At the time, it seemed like the cheapest way to showdown. He calls with any pair, and he probably doesn't fire on the river unless he improves. Mainly I'm trying to slow him down, plus there is some value in it against his range.

The main problem is pot-committing myself to a river push now, although maybe I can find a fold there. But, so yeah I do agree it's not great.

I don't think it's as bad as it might appear on the surface, though.

peterchi · #9 01-13-2007, 02:43 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Turn raise is bad. If you're going to raise, you're better just pushing than minraising. I think simply calling all 3 streets against this villain is best, especially since he's so aggressive.

[/ QUOTE ]
I've been pondering a turn push. The main reason I like it is I think he still calls with any pair, and I love going to value-city.

As far as call-call-call, I just didn't want a tough decision on the river, but I suppose I could fold to a $40 shove if I just smooth-called the turn. Maybe I'm giving this guy "too much" credit too, i.e. does he really have the stones to fire 3 barrels with crap? At the time I thought so, but in retrospect, I think that's more rare than I'm imagining...