It takes considerable skill to play effectively against such an opponent. However, when done well, it can be very profitable. I had just such an experience. I was playing an online no-limit hold’em game on a site that was recommended to me by lucky-7-bonus.ca and one player was such a maniac, often going all-in before the flop. The way he was playing, he may have been on tilt.

Those of you who have followed my column through the years will note that normally I much prefer playing limit hold’em in live games. I was playing online in this instance because I was still uncomfortable playing in live games since the coronavirus pandemic began. In this particular online game, we played for points –  not real money.

Over the long run you can expect fewer than 25 percent of your hole cards to be playable – worthy of investing your chips. But this “maniac” played every hand he was dealt. He won small pots – the blinds – when all of the other players folded to his big bets before the flop. On one occasion, an opponent called his all-in and beat him out when he connected on the flop. Maniac folded without revealing his hand. Then he promptly bought in again for another $1,000.

What would you do in this case?

Maniac was seated to my right, so he acted every hand just before me. He was in the cut-off position, and I was the button. A few players before him had limped in to see the flop. Then he pulled his all-in move. I studied my hole cards – pocket Aces. My hand was well ahead of his. As you may know, pocket aces become an underdog if more than three opponents stay in the pot. Fortunately, I was well ahead. So, I responded to the maniac by going all-in myself. All of the other players folded their hands, leaving us heads-up.  It was no surprise when I won the pot – a huge one!

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That did not change the maniac’s ways. After a few hands, he was back to going all-in. This time, I was in the hijack position, again with the maniac to my right. Once again, maniac went all-in before the flop. This time I held A-Q off-suit. With only two limpers, I again went all-in, so it was heads-up again. Neither of us improved our hands and I was pleased to take a huge pot once again.

The next day, a loose player who seemed to be on tilt went all-in from a middle position. The players before me all folded so, with a strong starting hand and lots more chips, I again went all-in and took another huge pot with only a small improvement.

It is so much fun when you win big pots, especially against a maniac – or a player who plays like one when he is on tilt.

In tournaments, by contrast, you aren’t allowed to top up your stack once you’ve entered. If the tournament is a re-buy or re-entry affair, then you can do so after busting your stack, but while in the midst of tournament play you can’t just decide to add on any additional chips unless there’s a provision for that in the tournament rules.

When Do You Go All-In?

There are several different situations when you might go all-in:
(1) An opponent bets (or raises), and you decide to call but you don’t have sufficient chips. So you go all-in for your remaining chips in play.
(2) A player may go all-in as a bet (or raise) as a value bet to build the pot size.
(3) You might go all-in to force opponents out of the hand.
(4) And finally, there may be occasions when you go all-in by raising an opponent who has gone all-in before you – all-in vs. all-in.

The latter has become my favorite since I started playing no-limit Texas Hold’em on-line. So let’s explore this concept…

Image Credit: Poker Divas

You are playing in an aggressive game with several loose players. One of them is a maniac, open-betting and raising in almost every hand dealt. Sometimes, he goes all-in hand after hand. We can expect playable starting hands on average no more often that one out of four hands dealt in the long run. So, apparently, our maniac is shoving all-in with weak hands also – before the flop.

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In such a case, when the situation is “right,” my plan is to go all-in over the top, provided that no one has called his all-in bet before the action gets to me. I assume that any opponent who calls the maniac’s all-in bet must hold a powerful hand, possibly better than mine. Of course, an exception would be if I held the nuts; then I could move ahead with my own all-in bet. (Can you imagine the size of that pot?)

Most often, in this situation, after the maniac’s all-in bet, the opponents will fold to me. With a strong hand, my goal is to isolate him – expecting my hand to be significantly better than his. (At least, I hope so.) As indicated above, I should take that pot about one out of four times. That’s what we call a Positive Expectation for a huge pot. (That makes me feel so good!)

Try it. You’ll like it…