$1/$2 NL HU

#1) Villian is a maniac. He sat with $52 and is giving me fits. Hes playing 56 / 43. I hate these kinds of players and normally just leave but since I doubled him up right away I decided to try to get it back. Stupid idea but I did it.

He raises to $6 and I call with [9h].
Pot $12. Flop [Kh][Qd]. I check. He bets $8 which he does almost every time. I call.
Pot $28. Turn . I check. He bets $14. I call.
Pot $56. River . OK, I know my play up to here is pretty questionable. Im semi tilting and trying to call him down because he just wont slow down (which is why I normally dont play these type guys). I want to make a blocking bet here which against this guy could even be a value bet. He could have any ace, any king, any queen or something like J9. If I check, hes liable to bet $40-$50 with any of those. How much do I bet?

#2) Same villain.

Hes really beating me now and has $242. I have $200.
He min raises and I call with [2h].
Pot $8 Flop [3c][2s]. I check planning to check raise. He wont fold TP or even overcards to a check raise. But he picks this time to check behind.

Pot $8. Turn . I bet pot and he raises to $18. Whats my plan for the turn and river?

#3) Different guy. Never seen him before. We've played 2 hands so far. He sat with $80.

I raise to $7 with [5h]. He calls.
Pot $14. Flop [8d][Ks]. He leads full pot.

Very few people do this. Ive gotten to showdown a few times in this spot and they rarely have TP. Its more likely he has a K an 8, a flush draw or absolutley nothing.

Ive called a bet like this before with nothing myself and bet the turn when the guy checked and took it down.

Whats my plan? He has $59 left after the bet.

a) Shove
b) Call and get all in on any non non K turn card.
c) Other

hand 1: I don't like the blocking bet. I CR flop, and if he calls, I'm done without improvement.

I do agree that semi-maniacs can be very difficult.

hand 2: I think I'd just call the turn, then check-call on anything but another club (unless it pairs the board). I think this is a good spot to let him hang himself, although he could have a monster with the check. Anyhow, as far as I'm concerned, whatever he has, he's going to show down unless the river is yet another non-pairing club.

hand 3: I disagree a bit with your statement that very few will do this with TP. I think a lot of players will, but I also agree that he doesn't need to have that and that all of the other possibilities you mention are in his range. I think I'd just go ahead and shove, actually. You're ahead far more often than not and have some outs as long as he has < 2 pair. I think it's best just to get it in there while you're presumably ahead.

Maybe you're right on the calldown. I definitely agree that middle pair is ok.

My preference for the CR is that so much can happen between flop and river. Sure, he'll CB everything, your hand is strong on this flop, and all that. But he doesn't have to bet everything all the way to the river. I'd assume that a difficult maniac anyway (which I'm guessing is the kind you're talking about--there's another type of maniac that I find totally easy because too transparent) will have a hand when he bets the turn.

I can't really say the calldown is in any sense "wrong," but it would make me uncomfortable--the 22 hand, ok, I'd just take my chances with a set or the like, but I'd prefer to shut it down or at least gain some sense of what he's got early with the K9 hand.

If you're really serious about the calldown, why even make the blocking bet on the river? If he bets big, he's likely to have little as a rule, if small, then you're probably in trouble but lose basically only the amount of the blocker anyway.

1) The main question is about the blocking bet. I dont know if Im ahead or not. I think Im ahead more often than not. If I check he might bet more than Im willing to call even with Q5. Isnt that the purpose of a blocking bet? If so, how much is the right amount? $20? Less?

2) I called his turn raise and the river was the giving me a boat and pairing the card he raised on so he may have a 7. The pot is $44 and action is on me, whats my play?

3) I called the flop bet. Turn is a 4. He checked and I shoved which is an overbet. He called with 54. Nice flop bet sir.

20 sounds pretty healthy in that pot--and actually makes you look a lot like you just spiked 2 pair. If I were in his shoes, I'd probably still cry and call with an A just to see it, but anything less than that, I'd go ahead and lay down. But he may be willing to call with less. If he raises it, then I'd definitely go away.

On the 22... I'd CR as much as I think he'd call with trips. The pot may be inflated enough that that's RN, whether or not he can call, and that's fine. But I wouldn't bet it out. I think a lot of the procedure for dealing with these guys is trapping on your big hands (if you can get them), and this is a great spot.

The player in hand 3 is clearly a complete fool. Definitely sit down at his table as often as possible!

Hand 2 I think you played well b/c he wont' ck behind HU with a flush or 7 there.

T

Also, I like the overbet on the turn after the check. I think this looks bluffy to most and you'll get called by 2nd pair b/c they think you are on a draw trying to force them off it.

I need to do this more.

T