Part: Part Twelve - Heads-Up
Calling down a maniac
Pre-flop
Heads-up against a hyper-aggressive opponent who three-bets constantly. You raise the button to 1,800 with A♦T♦ and he three-bets to 5,400.
A maniac three-bets you yet again; you hold A♦T♦ on the button. Best?
WhyWhen someone three-bets every button, his range is stuffed with hands A-T suited dominates, and yours flops well with position on your side. Fold and you let him print by bullying you; call and you keep his bluffs in the pot where post-flop position can punish them.
What happensYou call. Pot: 10,800. The plan is simple: let his aggression do the betting for you.
Flop
Flop A♠ 7♣ 3♦ - you flop top pair, ten kicker, and he barrels into you.
Top pair against a maniac who barrels. Best?
WhyAgainst someone this bluff-happy, top pair with a ten kicker beats the large air-heavy portion of his barreling range - which makes this a bluff-catch, not a fold. Raise and you blow his bluffs off their money; fold and you hand him a pot he's representing with nothing. Just call and let him keep firing.
What happensYou call down and table top pair; he shows a busted bluff. The lesson isn't that hero-calls always win - it's that a maniac's over-bluffing is what turns this call from marginal into clearly profitable.
Against a maniac the whole adjustment is to fold less: you flatted his three-bet and called top pair to the end, and his relentless bluffing paid you off. Widen your calls exactly when the table tightens up its bluff-catching.
The correct counter to over-aggression is to loosen your calling and bluff-catching ranges - his constant bluffing is precisely what makes your medium-strong hands profitable.