Hi all, new here.I would consider myself a poker n00b and have been playing in a pub league with about 10 others (usually get between 7-10 people each game) and on the whole I don't do too badly. My major problem is one particular guy. I would put him half way between a fish and a maniac. He bluffs almost all the time, has a betting reflex (even against only one opponent), and does not seem to have a starting hand guide in his head at all (recently went all-in pre-flop, doubling the blind, with 2-3s and when asked "you went all-in with that?" replied "Yeah, they're suited".

Sounds like an easy player to beat, but for some reason I have massive massive problems against him and he is always the one to drain my stack. The main problem seems to be when he makes a big bet after someone (or everyone) has checked, you know damn well he has absolutely nothing, but unfortunately so do you. An example where I was stupid while trying to brave his bets is:

I have AKo, hit nothing on the flop which is something like 349 (all offsuit). I check, he bets. I call knowing he doesn't have a pocket pair because he would have raised pre-flop and I'm hoping to pair up. The turn comes and it's something like an 8. I check, he bets. Not wanting to wuss out like I always do against him I call, still hoping to pair up. River shows up and it's something else useless, like a Queen. I check, he bets. I have absolutely nothing, and so even if he's paired just one card I'm screwed. I fold. He doesn't show his hand (which isn't like him at all, so I presume he has nothing or a very low pair and senses that I'm annoyed and everyone else has sussed him out).

The main problem is the above scenario, where I have a good starting hand, but miss the flop and he starts betting. We have noticed that raising his bets often makes him fold, but only on the turn, and only occasionally. He also doesn't seem to play every hand, folding about 1/4 of his hands without seeing the flop which makes you wonder what his idea of a good hand is if he keeps small suited connectors and hands like T4o. Equally, he does get some good hands making it difficult to tell when he has crap or the nuts.
Any ideas on this one? I am always out before him but I'm pretty sure I could take everyone else if I could just be out after him.

Edit: Why don't newlines / paragraph tags work on this forum?

With these LAG/Bully/Hyper maniac types you don't need to fight them with aggression.

Instead simply wait untill you have a hand that you are happy to show down and play it passivly. So say you raise PF and then C-bet, he raises, you then simply call the guy down if you really believe he is getting out of line and or this player type.

You'll make much more from his over playing/bluffing than you'll loose when he hits a runner, runner miricle.

Good Luck

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