Game was fairly normal, nothing special and a guy sat down and quickly started raising over 50% pre flop. Then in about 15 min he had cbet JJT got called and shipped $150 on blank turn and the other guy called with KT and won, maniac reloaded to $300.

A few hands later he straddled utg for $5 and 2 people called, I made it $27 with AJ suited from late position with $210 total, villain covered me and called.
Head up flop 459 with 2 of my suit. He checked I bet $30 and he made it $75 and I shipped, he called and won the hand.

I reload to $300, the very next hand villain is the bb and 2 limps to me, I make it $15 with AK, folds to him and he makes it $30 total, I flat. Flop is AQ8 rainbow, he had checked in the dark before the flop, I checked back figuring I have him crushed and he will lead 100% of his range on turn. Turn 4, he bets $35, I make it $100 and he snap ships and I snap call.

I obviously lose 2nd hand also, what mistakes if any did I make on either hand?

Probably cbet the first hand, and raise slightly bigger once you c/r, getting it in is okay.

Turn, if you're trapping you should keep doing so and flat the turn. You can get it in pre if you think he has a fold or weaker range.

you have to expect high variance with the way youre playing, youre blowing up pots like crazy against a maniac (first hand you shoved with a-high; you had great equity against his range, but still, you still have to hit something to win)

imo the hands were played fine

i might just flat the turn bet for pot control, but im a cautious nit sometimes

don't think you could have played either hand that much differently. i guess you could have called ott bc your fe was too **** so there is no real advantage too shoving but that can't be a huge mistake bc its all going in ott anyway.

2nd hand sounds like a cooler. could be a case made for actually folding pre if he is never gonna 4b light, which might actually be the case bc this is in fact llsnl no matter how bad and aggro this dude is, but obviously you never are gonna fold with his image. once that flop hits all the money is going in

more or less played fine...

Playing against a maniac is always high variance. Just the nature of the beast.

I like betting flop in hand 2 (first hand is fine). Maniacs in general, and especially not the way you're describing this one, are just going to be c/f many flops if any after dark checking. So bet 35, build the pot, and take initiative. I realize that this is probably one of the flops that it might happen (him c/f) on, but if that's the case we probably don't win much more anyway.

As played I'm just flatting turn. If he's airy do we reallllly expect him to rando bomb over our raise? Our line might look wierd but, that's usually the stones or something suspect. While he may be more than capable of bombing air because he "just doesn't believe you", that speech is usually given after they tank forever and then fold. Its not like were losing heaps of value from **** one pair aces.

Plus when we bet flop we can do a bunch of cool **** on later streets to maximize value once his range becomes a little more defined.

I probably ship hand 1 on the flop just out of habit, but in retrospect, assuming i can think clearly vs a maniac in this situation, I'd either check back flop or just flat his turn raise. I dont really expect him to have complete air here, so I predict I'm not really a favorite. I do however expect to get paid if I hit, so I'll just call and look to make TP or flush. I'm never folding the turn though, just praying that he gives me a free card.

Hand 2 I hate checking back flop since it makes no sense whatsoever on this board. I understand villain is being silly checking dark and all that nonsense, but we iso-raised preflop and called a re-raise. There's just no logic to checking back an ace high flop. Even if villain doesnt have the brains to put us on a strong range, he probably has the feeling that we simply must have something, so it's futile to try and bluff us off. What I'm trying to say is that we're never inducing anything here. What we are in fact hoping for is that he 3bet us with something stupid like KTo or Q9s or whatever. If he's really a maniac he isnt going anywhere with a draw/pair, so we can just bet flop and hope he either caught something to pay off with, or he was just going to fold anyway.

First hand with AJ, he raised you on the flop, and not to an insane amount. Perhaps he ships or over-raises on weak holdings but when the raise is a somewhat sane amount he has it? This really is something I'd think about if I have air and an considering bluff-jamming. In this particular instance the thinking was done for you I.e. overs and flush so no worries. Just WWYD if you had air?

AK hand, may be similar in that he clicks back PF, he may have a good hand again? If he lucked out both times with uncoordinated 2-pair lol oh well.

Did he just flat with overpair like JJ in first hand? You can use that info on subsequent hands although the very next hand is tough while in the heat of the moment and just being stacked.

Good luck out there ParisRon. U been Sugar Shaned!!

Against maniacs who are raising a huge amount of hands preflop, I tend to overlimp / raise (or shove if stacks are right). In both cases I think we should have overlimped, let maniac do his thing, let a couple of others weakly call with their speculative hands, and then brought down the hammer. In both cases, we likely either (a) win huge amounts of money with A high uncontested or (b) go HU against maniac with the best hand with a lotta dead money in the pot.

Grarelyopeningpreflopifthere'samaniaconthetableG

Think 4-betting Hand 2 is much better.

The one and only Sugar Shane from Tampa? About time you joined. lol

I really agree with this point. Also sit to there direct right. Over limp with AK, watch them raise to $15 and get 5 callers, then make a big reraise and if they fold great you won $90, if they call, you probally have a tremendous amount of equity and there is a ton of dead money.

hand 1 ur mistake is shipping with ace high against maniac

hand 2 your mustake is not doing the same thing on the flop

Thanks for all the responses guys. He flopped a set of 5's 1st hand and set of Q's second hand and those were back to back hands. Pretty brutal.

The always question people's labeling of individuals as maniacs. When someone raises 50% preflop, I ask what he does post flop? I've seen many skilled players pull off a maniac image by raising pots (not a lot of money) preflop and then tightening up post flop except for when they have something or when they sense real weakness.

Granted maniac got super lucky against you with 2 sets, I still feel the money in poker is to play the opposite of your opponent. If he turns maniac, you turn nittier! Tighten up and let him build the pot for you.

My rule is this. If you have a great hand and maniac has a great hand, he'll make sure money gets in the pot. You just hope you have a better hand more often so if you player tighter this increases % chance you have a better than then him. If you have a great hand and he has nothing, he'll fold to your aggression but will try to steal if you fake weakness. In this case you win!

If you both have nothing, let him take the small pot and just lose your small investment to see the board and/or turn.

If he has something and you are weak, let him take a small pot and don't try to play sheriff. He will not fold a premium hand if he doesn't fold garbage!

Just do the opposite of your opponent and you will maximize value. Don't escalate your opponent's style of play. Trying to out maniac a maniac will end in high variance. Trying to out nit a nit will end in time lost and boredom.

This.

No, maniacs don't last long. Someone is going to get their $$$, it should be me (you). Nitting it up is relying on pure luck to take the guy's money.

You shouldn't go crazy, but your value range should widen significantly. And you should basically throw away your fold button.

Hand 1 is fine to me.

I would have 4-bet hand 2 and been prepared to get it in pre (if he was a true maniac).

I love playing maniacs. My last experience at 1/2 made me $2,200 -- almost all from the maniac (he was a true maniac). It was great. Sorry your maniac got so lucky.

Call all of his 3-bets.
Flat all of his cbets.
Make a hand.