I played for a few hours today at a 10-hand NL$10 table, which was being dominated by an ultra-aggressive maniac. He would raise pre-flop 4-5BB ALL THE TIME. I responded by becoming ultra-tight, only playing pocket pairs and perhaps AK once, while folding everything else (AJ, KQ, etc).

Post-flop, the maniac ALWAYS raises as well, consistently. I've seen a few people try to "teach" this maniac a lesson and go AI with pocket QQ or KK, only for the maniac to beat them by hitting two pairs with trash like J3 hole cards, and one time pocket aces.

Is playing ultra-tight the right strategy against an ultra-aggressive maniac? It basically means I'm playing against one person, instead of the entire table. I patiently waited for pocket QQ-AA to trap the maniac pre-flop, but they never came in my two-hour session and I quit in the red from the blinds and a few expensive calls to see the flop. When I left, the maniac had tripled his stack. I know he's going to lose it in the end... I had hoped he'd lose it to ME.