Been playing at the table for about an hour. For the first half hour the game is pretty nitty and everyone keeps stating that they are only "waiting for seat 3 to come back". seat 3 (we'll call him villain now) had been gone the whole time i was there but had ~5k and apparently was "the worst luckbox ever", as per everyone's opinion.
anyway he finally comes back and first hand he plays he gets involved with me and shoves after i raised pf on a board of 2-7-5rainbow (i fold aq) and he shows me 9-2 and says "this is my hand!".

anyway... about 20 mins goes by and i straddle for 20. 5 callers (including villain) and i look down at k10 and raise to 120- and get a call by villain, and two others.

Hero (UTG) ~2500

Villain 1 (MP2) ~6500


Flop: 1074

Hero bets 375. Villain calls. Fold, Fold.

Turn: A

Hero bets 700, Villain goes all in.

Now I didn't really get to see more than about a half hour from him. But he had already been AI about 3-4 times. The dude was probably one of the most ultra-aggressive people (for absolutely no reason half the time) but i remember that he either had absolutely nothing or the nuts. purely polarized whether he knew it or not. however i HATE letting these kind of players get the best of me because you tend to just call because of their previous aggression.

thoughts?

Once you bet the turn, I dont think you should ever fold. You are getting 2.3 to 1. He has some pair with a random diamond a lot of the time. If he has a flush oh well.

Check behind pre. Raise Ajo+ ATs+ KQs 88+. KTo is a terrible hand especially oop and given this guy is a maniac the game is probably playing really loose. I wouldn't expect to get hu vs him which is what I assume you wanted.

also don't like raising the straddle but that's something that depends heavily on table dynamic.

don't really like betting this turn as i don't see how we get value from anything worse or get anything better to fold.

Preflop is ugh.

I'm debating whether I'd rather raise blind or raise KTo.

I'm 100% positive I'd rather have 67s in your spot.

EDIT: Why are you straddling? Villain has shown that he's willing to ship it in with idiotic holdings. Zero need to bloat pots preflop.

EDIT2: Are you at a capped table? You need to have the fish covered (assuming your bankroll allows.)

Your turn bet is really bad. Are you really expecting to get him to stack off with Tx or 7x on this turn card? Start by checking turn.

I like the squeeze, although I might go 20-40 larger. C-bet is fine. I'd check turn and try for the soul-read if he bets. As played I think you are committed to the call after the second barrel, but you won't often like what you see. Assuming that you are properly rolled for the game if it goes badly those chips are certainly still in play.

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Is this an utg+1 straddle? If so, I think preflop is really bad. You're bloating the pot oop with a hand that doesn't play well and could be dominated by the random limpers' limp/call hands. Just see a flop. On the button I guess it's OK.

I don't really know what to do as played. It's probably pretty close either way.

Preflop is very bad, not only did you bloat the pot OOP vs an aggro maniac, but your raise size was atrocious. straddled to $20 and 5 callers, your standard raise size this spot should be $20x(3+5)=$160. Because you're OOP I'd make it even bigger, like $200 to take it down right there or make someone decide for their stack on the flop. $120 is a terrible, terrible size.

But I would've just checked behind the straddle.

If your goal was to get heads up against the maniac then you got your wish, but on the turn instead of the flop and OOP with a marginal hand. Do you think that he floated the flop to take the pot away on the turn - with nothing?

How often do you put nearly half your stack in, then fold? It looks to me like your turn bet says you are willing to get the rest of your stack in light because this guys shove can't be unexpected. You got what you wanted, right? You didn't really expect him to fold, did you? What was your plan for the river if he just called the turn? Check, fold? Shove? I think you're committed and have to call.

I can't believe your play is close to optimal against a maniac. Really, it's pretty bad in my opinion. Why not wait for a better spot? Tighten up, raise big preflop to isolate. Flat in position. Trap. So many more options than getting it all in with second pair and no redraw, especially when you have to call off your stack to make it happen.

honestly i did want to get with him heads up. but i expected on the flop that the pot was mine. i didn't think anyone had a range that would match the board that came out. if he a flush draw he would be the kind of opponent to raise me ai (or close to it) on the flop after my c-bet- and i was willing to stack off on flop.
the turn bet i made was pretty bad but at the time i thought it would block him from betting on the ace.

I find blocking bets typically look weak and often get raised by aggressive players and called down light for value by good but less aggressive players. I don't use them all that much, except when I want to appear weak to induce a raise. Anyway, with the all-in raise on the turn he could have floated the flop to try and push you out on the turn. Or, he has the goods. Not sure he's sophisticated enough to float the flop to shove on turn? So he has something, right? What could he be over-valuing that you beat? Or, you're crushed. Check the turn for pot control? Then fold if he shoves, probably. But you have half your stack already in the pot. That makes it tougher to fold, especially because you don't like "to let him get the best of you." Tough spot. Results?

i called. river was j. he said "good call" and mucked.