How to beat this game?

Was wondering whether u guys can give me some advice on this matter. I was playing in a home game with unfamiliar ppl and found out it was a tough game to beat, especially when i got get any hands for hours.

The blinds are $0.5/1 and there was 8 of us. One guy in his late 20s or early 30s was alittle bit out of place as he was playing stakes that i would say is too small for him. He sat down the table annoucing the blinds are unofficially $5 to go. The problem with the game is the host doesnt cap the buy in limit. And he annouce that he was going to buyin for $100 and $200 if he lose the $100 and another $400 if he lose the $200. Initially everyone bought in for $100. Imagin every pot was going at 5% of my stack. Of cause you could wait for a REAL hand and reraise his $5 but you dont pick up a monster in your hole cards all the time. And if he does pick up something he likes he will probably raise it to $25. With no odds to play anything and not getting any hands in the duration i was playin with him, what is the best way to beat him? If i have as much money with him i would buy in for more so i got more imply odds to play him, however i dont have that amount of money compare to him. Im still wondering what is the best way to play this game besides sitting there and waiting for pocket rockets and get crack.

so he changed the blinds? or he just started raising to $5 with any playable hand. If the BB is $5 and you have a $100 stack then basically take 2 high cards, make a pair on the flop and get it in.

If its only him whos made his blind bigger then its essentially the same as if hes raising with 100% of his hands and folding lots to reraises. That sounds pretty exploitable.

he is raising it to 5 every round. It does sound pretty exploitable but it aint that easy. Unless u have pocket rockets or kings. If he raise to $5..got 2 callers (after awhile everyone seems to be willing to gamble for $5 because of him)..what range of hands do you reraise with? And there is always a chance someone is limping in to reraise him since the blinds are $1. If someone pick up a monster they will definately go for the limp raise. So unless u have AA or KK, its just too dangerous to raise here. If u pick up suited connectors or a small pair, u are risking 5% of your stake at min and if someone reraise behind u, u are going to fold your hand.

Playing against a maniac in bloated pots when you're inexperienced and underrolled is a bad recipe.

A lot of us here see your post, and our heart starts beating fast because we want to punk that bitch who keeps raising nothing, but the fact is we know how to exploit him, because we've played hundreds of thousands of hands. No post with advice can make up for that.

You just need experience. I suggest you see some flops with reasonable hands and bet hard when you hit the flop hard.

The only problem I see battling a player like this is if you are playing with scared money. You have to be able to take every small edge he gives you... pound on him with AQ/AK, maybe even AJ.. mid pairs 88+ .. you have to be willing to pla for stacks wtih this guy if he's raising every hand. You have to be willing to play for stacks as a 55/45 favorite....I don't think you can just wait for that one perfect hand.

if you cant figure out on your own how to beat this guy then you shouldnt be playing in the game imo. sounds like a dream game to me.

Griffey,

"Maybe" AJ? I'd re-raise to $18 and call a shove with AT+, KQ, any pair 55 or better (and I'd be slightly tighter if a lot of other players were still to act, then I'd probably drop 55, 66, AT from my raising range). If he were folding to my re-raises I'd throw in a lot of bluff-reraises with suited connectors.

Don't call his raise with any hands. This guy is not letting you see flops so you're going to have to beat him at his own game, which won't be hard.

If someone pick up a monster they will definately go for the limp raise. So unless u have AA or KK, its just too dangerous to raise here.

Stop thinking like this. If you re-raise the maniac with 77 and another dude limp-raises all-in then you just fold, who cares it's just $18. A more likely outcome is that everyone at the table will fold to you.

If I was uncomfortable with the stacks being made 5x what I sat down for, I'd cash out. Noones forcing you to play his game.

If you have the roll and the edge, go for it, but dont lose money just because you're embarrased to stand up.

Originally Posted by dunowhut

he is raising it to 5 every round (..) what range of hands do you reraise with?

If he's on your right: more or less the same range you would normally raise with if he wasn't there. Should be a bit looser because of the extra money in the pot, but if you're not really comfortable with the game/stakes then you're probably better off playing fairly good hands.

If he's on your left: don't open raise. Limp and re-raise/call/fold depending on the action behind you. If he's on your immediate left you will, in effect, be last to act pre-flop every hand.

Sounds to me more like the bigger problem is your playing with scared money than what he is doing. I would love someone playing like that at my table. If you are that scared (or uncomfortable) about losing a buyin against a loose aggro like him, I would suggest moving down a level.

Call with hands like KQ KJ and J10. And move in on him with nads like AJ AQ AK or any pair from 88

If he's raising $5 EVERY round; then whenever you have better than Q7 you're favourite preflop, against that particular player.

Poker is a gambling game. All I hope for is that the odds are on my side. I nearly always loosen my game up dramatically, if I'm lucky enough to have a maniac sit at my table.

---

The original post stressed not getting any cards. Well, sometimes that's poker. If you're rarely getting any decent cards, it's probally best to only rarely play a hand.

However, against a maniac, my definition of 'decent cards' would go down rather than up in poker rankings.

maybe AJ?

Im reraising with like... A9+ , A5s+, 88+, KJ+, and maybe others depending on how many other players are in the hand. The vast majority of the time at low stakes the rest of the table will get out of your way and you get to play the maniac in a bloated pot with a hand that is way better than the range hes starting with.