he definitely was aggressive postflop in hands he opened he would barrel with all sorts of draws and air but he generally was more passive against me when I had opened the pot he hadn't really donked into me yet.

I usually 3 bet more linear vs maniacs but merged is reasonable. You don't want to add 3 bet bluffs vs. a maniac because say you 3-bet A5s or 76s he is going to call with hands like A7o and T6s, and polarized misses too much value not 3 betting hands like AJo.

Not sure there's really a low variance way to play against maniacs without sacrificing a lot of EV. Personally my negativr variance with them has not been that bad because maniacs at this level tend to be very easy to read and it doesn't take long to pick up tells because of how often they are in a pot combined with their general lack of skill.

Quick betting/raising is typically more bluffy. When a maniac takes 20 seconds and then raises it's time to worry.

What’s the difference between merged and linear? I assume by linear you just mean the top of your range down to a certain point as opposed to polarized which includes bluffs like a5s or 76s and top of range like you said. What is merged then?

I don't think a fold is all that bad in this spot TBH given what you described (particularly the part about him not showing aggression up to now vs you). He has no bluffs in this spot at all given you have shown aggression twice, and you hold the A so he probably has few semi-bluffs as well (KQx maybe).

I just think this is heavily weighted towards value and doubt we have the ~31% equity necessary to call. But maybe I am in nit-mode today...

Linear range is just your top X% of hands like 66+, ATs+, KTs+, QTs+, JTs, AJo+, KQo

Polarized range is your best hands and some bluffs for balance like JJ+, AQs+, A5s-A4s, 76s, 65s, AKo

Merged range is the theoretical opposite of polarized range and consists of medium strength hands like TT-77, AJs-ATs, KTs+, QJs, JTs, AQo, KQo

The main reason to use a merged range is for deception and to keep very strong hands in your flatting range. A merged range would work well against a maniac. With hands like KK we can hero down vs his bluffs, and we can 3 bet hands like 88 and still get called by worse (and possibly get better hands from other players like TT to fold).

Or when you bet/call a 3 bet your range is typically merged.

Note a merged range is the same thing as a condensed range or capped range.

How is a maniac someone who calls with 8 outs to the nuts hoping to hit? What does that make everyone in this thread who wants to call with even less outs?

I think if this person was maniac enough that it was an easy call that you'd be here trying to get reinforcement for losing the hand to a turned flush, not wondering if you should've called.

I suppose he could have some KQ with the king of diamonds. The issue is that none of your hand examples show him being aggressive in big pots after the flop so unlike you, and the other people in this thread, I don't know how relevant they are.

Agree with Mike, nice work in this thread Shai. Well thought out explenation on the different kind of ranges too.

I think that part was just an explanation of why OP was tilted and to give an example of his calling range (54o). Calling down with a double gutter is pretty standard depending on implied odds. Even maniacs make hands or good draws sometimes. It doesn't make him not a maniac just because he flopped a decent draw and got there.

Don't fold AA vs guys like this. Not at this price.

Anecdote time. I moved to a new 2/5 table once, first hand I get AA. I 20 two calls. Flop 678r. I c bet half pot. BB calls. Turn 5. He donks pot, I snap fold and he shows J2o. Point is these guys have so many garbage hands they will bet you can't assume even on pretty nasty boards that you're beat. I went on to stack the guy 4 times, twice with A high and twice with a weak pair. He was very easy to read once I had seen a few hands, as is the case with most maniacs.