Method in madness

One of the most important (and exciting) things about poker is that no two situations are the same. You can have the same exact two cards twice in a row, but chances are the decisions you make will be very different depending on what the flop is, how many players are involved, your position and everything else that comes into play. One of the most influential factors that can determine a fold, call or re-raise is the type of opponent you’re facing. We’ve all played against the guy (or sometimes girl) who is involved in every single pot. He or she plays hands you wouldn’t dream of playing; raising with 5-8 offsuit. The first thing is that you should be able to identify this type of player within ten to 15 minutes of play. If you do find yourself at a table with a maniac player, you need to adjust your play accordingly and wait for the right time to trap them.

Swimming with sharks

I often find myself referring back to the $25,000 WPT World Championship, not only because I went so deep in the tournament (thus making it more memorable for me), but because I played so many fascinating hands with every type of player imaginable. One that always sticks out in my mind was against a player named Doug Lee. To point out just how much of a maniac Doug is, his nickname is the ‘Canadian Super Bomber’ – no doubt, for his utterly relentless, attacking play! And, while I do consider him to be a wild player, he is an extremely tough opponent who won a $10,000 WSOP circuit event in 2005 and went on to reach the final table in another just a few months later. Doug is certainly a player to look out for in the future.

When you have a player like Doug at your table, it seems like you’ll never get to limp into any pots because he is always raising. Players like this play so many hands it can make it difficult to determine when they actually have a real hand. Statistically, you know they can’t possibly have a hand every time, but the one time you raise them, they might just be holding a monster. This is why it’s important not to get frustrated every time they raise your big blind and just be patient. While crazy, aggressive players like Doug can be tricky to play against, they are often easily trapped. Ideally, you want to pick up a premium hand in position that you can play back aggressively and be confident of playing a big pot with; the other way is to see the flop as cheaply as possible with a drawing hand. The implied odds of these hands will greatly increase when playing a maniac because they are almost certain to pay you off.

This was certainly the case at the WPT Championship. It was day three and the blinds were $1,000/$2,000 with a $300 ante. Doug was playing his usual aggressive, wild style. If he wasn’t raising the hand first, he was at least either calling or re-raising most of the pots. I was playing pretty conservatively, as I was not getting many hands that I considered playable (hands that Doug would certainly be playing). I finally picked up A♦-7♦ in the big blind, which Doug obviously raised. It’s easy to feel like you should be re-raising an extremely aggressive player in this situation, especially when you’re not seeing any cards and getting raised all the time. This is when patience and discipline come into play.

We all know hands like suited Aces and even A-Q and A-J look really good when you’ve been card dead, however, you must remember they are marginal hands and while you probably do have the better cards before the flop, players like Doug will most likely call a re-raise and continue their aggressive play after the flop. Moreover, he had me covered and could easily have come over the top of me. So, I merely flat-called him and just he and I went to the flop. I flopped the nuts! It’s such an awesome feeling when you see your perfect board, especially when you don’t have position and especially when you’re playing a maniac. I looked at the 10♦-4♦-2♦ and prayed Doug had a diamond, or any small piece of that flop.

Playing up

In this situation a little acting can come into play. A few frown lines or a scratch of the head won’t go amiss, but be wary of overacting or ‘Hollywooding’ it because (a) that’s cheesy and (b) because that can give away the strength of your hand. I quickly deduced that even a timid little bet might be too much in this situation, but I was worried because sometimes when you check your big hands on the flop and then either flat call or raise on the turn, it’s also a dead giveaway about the monster you hold in your hand. However, since I had been playing rather tight, I figured Doug would surely think I’m weak and he could easily take the pot, no matter what his hand was. I decided to check and like clockwork, Doug fired off a bet. Now I went into the tank for a while before reluctantly deciding to call. The turn brought the Q♣. Again, I checked and sure enough, Doug tried to steal the pot once again. This is a perfect example of why it’s so important to know the type of player you’re involved in a pot with. I knew if I kept checking to him, I would just let Doug burn his money.

Players like Doug will continue to stab at a pot even if the board is scary. This is also why they often accumulate so many chips in tournaments. They pick up so many pots by aggressively betting the flop, turn and river. The culmination of this hand, however, shows why this tactic is dangerous and often foiled. I smooth-called Doug on the turn and the river brought a blank. Again, I checked, which is sometimes hard to do on the river for fear of your opponent checking behind you. You must remember, however, that chances are your opponent has a weak hand that they will never call a river bet with anyway, so you are much better off letting them take one final stab at the pot.

Most crazy, aggressive players will probably take that final shot because they know it will be the only way for them to win the pot and many times they will force players to lay down the better hand. After I checked for the third time, Doug finally said the magic words I had been waiting to hear: ‘all-in’. As you can imagine, I called in lightning speed and doubled up. I never saw what Doug’s cards were and quite honestly, I couldn’t even venture a guess. I know a player like him is capable of making that type of play with absolutely nothing, which is how I was able to extract the maximum amount of chips from him.

Drawing lucky

After re-thinking the entire hand I’m quite certain that even if Doug had checked behind me on the river, things would have worked out for me. I liked the way I played the hand and would not do anything differently. This example shows the importance of table image and how well you determine other players’ capabilities at the table. I know many aggressive players who play tons of different hands – just like Doug – but would check behind me in that situation.

This is why it’s so important to adjust your play depending on the opponents that you are facing on your table. Had it been anyone other than Doug, I would certainly have played the hand differently, knowing that most players can’t – or won’t – make an all-in bluff in that scenario. So, if you find yourself seated at a table with a live player like Doug, don’t get frustrated – consider yourself lucky. If the cards come your way, you just might be able to trap you fiery opponent while clawing your way to becoming the chip leader!