So I thought I would have a go at the maniac strategy today, entered a $7 S&G with the sole intention of bluffing/calling and raising with absolutely anything, odds and maths be damned! But I had a strategy, unbalance the table early on and make people think before calling/raising me, because they would get a raise or re-raise in the other direction, and they couldn't know if I had junk or the nuts.

Amazingly... I won 1st place, my hand history is here: http://monotoko.co.uk/maniac.html (I didn't show any hands, the software I used to convert just says I showed every one! But it tells you what I had )

Did I play this strategy okay, do you think? Or was it a pure fluke that I won? I know there are some "lucky" hands in there, namely 12 and 64.

One thing I did notice, people were not as hessitant to call my raises towards the end, they expected it of me, which was great when I had some amazing hands (KK followed by AA)

I think there is something to this strategy, it throws the opponents off because they can never accurately know whether you have a good hand or not without calling big bets.

It's the first time I've played that loose and borderline maniac, and I was expecting to lose my $7.... but it was definately one of the more fun games I've played Thoughts?

I'm speechless.

Juk

lol! You're not the only one... I'm amazed I won, usually I'm a very tight aggressive player. I'm going to be shunned from poker communities for life now aren't I? :c

Yep

Well actually I used to do something similar by playing micro-limit limit and deciding I was only gonna press raise or fold just to see what it was like to be one of those raise/fold maniacs...

The problem with what you're asking is if you can gauge anything from a single SNG playing that strategy. You could do the same again and go out on hand #1 because some guy had decided to play Kx next time... Would you draw the same conclusions then?

Juk

Well, I did a bit of watching before I played. I found in the lower games ($1.50 and $3.50) that the maniacs I observed were getting obliterated because everyone calls. However, in the $7 and $15 games, they appeared to do well because everyone seems to tighten up a bit so they can easily become the "dominant" player, but the general skill level isn't very high. Once they knew I was going to call and raise everything it upset the balance and appeared to make players uncomfortable and on edge, and that's when they get fustrated and make bets/raises and all there math seems to go out of the window.

Beyond $15.. a lot of players seemed to pick up the maniacs early and counter them with bigger bluffs.

This is revolutionary stuff...

Okay, I'm confused. Who is trolling who? or is just everyone trolling each other?

Level?

I 3-bet to iso after 4 players limp in... at least 2 call everytime. And I iso raise huge.

Trollfest!

Alright OP, I play pretty aggressive, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, aggressive is the exception in these games, and you should play tight unless there is a reason otherwise. I made it as far as the JTs hand...

These two hands are just super terrible... Isolating from the SB without a strong hand is just a bad play this deep. When you are on the button, you have more information when the play gets back to you on the flop. Right here you have no information and are just giving away money making this continuation bet. Sure cbetting this flop because you have a flushdraw is ok, but how many top pairs and flushdraws will you flop? Not many.

Wtf JTs, there is no way this raise/call is profitable. It has nothing to do with aggressive, just math.

HAND #6
------------------

Poker Stars, $6.37 + $0.63 NL Hold'em Tournament, 10/20 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG: 1,200
UTG+1: 1,520
MP1: 1,685
MP2: 1,265
CO: 1,410
BTN: 640
Hero (SB): 4,280
BB: 1,500

Pre-Flop: (30) Q 3 dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls 20, 3 folds, BTN calls 20, Hero raises to 80, 2 folds, BTN calls 60

Flop: (200) 7 K 4 (2 Players)
Hero bets 200, BTN raises to 520, Hero calls 320

Turn: (1,240) 7 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 20, Hero calls 20

River: (1,280) A (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 20 and is All-In, Hero calls 20

Results: 1,320 Pot
BTN showed 5 K and WON 1,320 (+680 NET)
Hero showed Q 3 and LOST (-630 NET)

HAND #12
------------------

Poker Stars, $6.37 + $0.63 NL Hold'em Tournament, 15/30 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP1: 1,260
MP2: 1,560
CO: 1,515
BTN: 455
SB: 1,370
BB: 2,160
Hero (UTG): 3,870
UTG+1: 1,310

Pre-Flop: (45) T J dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to 90, UTG+1 folds, MP1 raises to 1,260 and is All-In, 5 folds, Hero calls 1,170

Flop: (2,565) 5 6 Q (2 Players - 1 is All-In)


Turn: (2,565) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)


River: (2,565) 8 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)


Results: 2,565 Pot
MP1 showed K K and LOST (-1,260 NET)
Hero showed T J and WON 2,565 (+1,305 NET)

I honestly dont see much maniac aggression on your part , you called with that 10-j suited , outside of a hand were you played aggro with j-5, you ran really good. you had JJ THREE times, Aces, kings,99, a sequence where you got dealt an Ace six times in a row. I would attribute that tourney more to getting dealt good cards than you playing like a maniac.

I did have a very good run, I will give you that. So you think I played my cards well in that tourney? Apart from a few mishaps? I think In was very aggressive though, at least a lot more aggressive than normal, and most of the other players on the table.

You played optimally for the most part, you playing a lot of pots and your relative chip lead made others call more with your premiums.. You also did not get cracked at all, with that distribution of hands you got, you should have placed, and you came in first.

quick, delete this thread before sngs become unbeatable!

If this thread encourages people to play this way, please sticky it.

667 post