I’ll be using the following profile of a maniac in the subsequent examples: A maniac who raises and re-raises most of the time including the first round of betting. He only wants to win it all before the flop shows that’s why he’s showing such kind of aggressiveness.

Adapting to a maniac should be planned carefully just like any other poker decisions you’ll make. You need to throw away all the defined notions you had about isolation, loosening up and everything you think you know about adjusting to a maniac – you need to evaluate the situation at all sides.

So far, there are three aspects you need to consider to make a better adjustment:

Your position relative to the maniac
How the other players will adjust
How you deal with the large swings mentally

The first two aspects should be dealt together because they are relative to each other.

You have preferable position compared to the maniac and the table has already adjusted

Whenever you’re sitting on a maniac’s left, you assume that the usual way to isolate him is to re-raise. But if the others will know what you’re up to, they will adjust their play and it will be not good for you. They will start re-potting and you will see yourself folding or in a 3 way all in with little benefits.

For example, if the other participants have loosened up their play when the maniac is around, you’ll have to be careful on attempting any kind of isolation tactics because you might catch yourself and the maniac isolated instead.

You have preferable position against the maniac but the floor has not adjusted to his presence

If the occupants of the table don’t mind that you want to go head to head with the maniac then it’s your advantage to raise and re-raise as you pleased.

Just be watchful if someone other than the maniac smooth called you or re-raise the pot. They might have a very powerful hand and they might be letting the maniac to bet and bet in order to suck in more players to the pot.

The maniac has preferable position over you and the table has adjusted

The best thing to do in this position is to permit the maniac do the betting for you which will add more players to the pot. This is the best case in m y evaluation – though others will dispute that it will be preferable to have position over the maniac to isolate him is best; but for me, it’s better to limp and let the maniac raise up the pot, get more callers and then come out on top with a huge raise in order to isolate the maniac with a lot of dead money in the pot.

The maniac has preferable position over you and the table has not adjusted to his presence

In the case that the occupants of the table has not adjusted due to the maniac’s presence then it’s better to come up and start the raising and anticipate that the maniac will re-raise that will allow most of the field to fold their hands. If you have a powerhouse then it’s better to bet all in or take a flop with enough money behind.

In PLO games, it’s better to keep your raises and above all your re-raises lesser than the usual norm in these circumstances: better not flipping against a maniac except if you have a powerful hand like the AAxx or double suited KK/QQ, it’s better to create a big pot and then take the money post-flop but you can still let go of your hand without regret if things go wrong.

One example would be playing in a PLO game with stakes of $2/$4, with a buy-in $400. The usual raise in this game would be $14 but yours will be lesser like $8-$10 or just re-raise the minimum in order not to gamble a lot of your stacks before the flop were shown.

When the maniac opens up with $14, you would be re-raising him with $28 which will give you the chance to fold your hand if for instance a locksmith will re-raise after you, or you can call the maniac’s 3-bet which would be $90 head to head or $188 with another player – you will still have $300 of your chips left – or you can re-raise the bet to $276 or push it all effectively.

But if you are going to re-pot the maniac’s initial bet to $48 you would be gambling more than 10% of your stack pre-flop. Then if a locksmith re-raises the bet then you have to fold but if you call with the maniac’s 3 bet then it you will gambling $150 of your chips which is not good because it’s huge.

These are only rules on how to deal with a maniac on a PLO table. Just bear in mind that each maniac should be treated differently – simply because they are of varying stages of being a maniac.

If you have strong hand you might consider raising but it’s advisable that you gamble less than 10% of your chips before the flop. Only the AAxx hand or a KK/QQ can be an exemption to this consideration.

Having these hands in your possession will make you choose from one of the two actions – either bet less than 10% of your stack or go over 50% pre-flop.

Betting Less than 10%

If you’ll going to bet below 10% of your present chips – it only signifies that you are giving yourself a chance to get out of the hand if the flop is not good for you. One instance would be playing in a PLO game with $100 buy-in and you are in possession of quiet a good hand comprising of AsKsJdQc.

When the flop is turned, you see an – AJQ amid 2 suited cards you don’t possess. If you bet $7 you can let go of the hand and the loss won’t be too devastating.

But once the pot is opened to $7 accompanied with 2 callers then you have a game. You can re-raise the bet to $38 and you can make a call holding your 3 pair and a chance to gain a gut-shot straight. When you win, the pot will increase favorably not less than $200 – a 60% increase from your original bet.

Don’t commit the mistake of betting 20%-40% of your chips during pre-flop. It’s definitely a bad idea.

Betting More Than 50%

If you’re fortunate to gain a better starting hand of AAxx or KK/QQ then you might consider having a heads-up confrontation with one of your opponents. So it’s time for you to raise your bet into more than 50% of your stack. This is to make certain that almost all other players to fold leaving only one player to go heads to head against you.

Since you started betting with a big chunk of your stack – it’s your goal to commit yourself in re-raising the pot till your sole opponent folds. Don’t worry if he won’t relent, you are assured a better result if you have the AA or KK hand.

Prior to learning strategies on PLO, you need to know more about PLO itself and what distinguished it from other poker games.

1.Action is the game when it comes to PLO. You play with 4 starting cards and five cards on the board. Even not so good players can have a good pay off in the PLO because they can come up a great hand.

Those who used to play Hold ‘Em has a certain disadvantage when playing the PLO. They will assume that any flush can be the nuts, having a top pair is a great hand and having two pairs can make you win; but they are mistaken.

2.Starting hand in the PLO has a very close value with every player unlike in Hold ‘Em. You can seldom have a 60/40 favorable card during pre-flop.

Lots of poker players failed in this aspect because they think going to from pre-flop to post-flop in PLO is simple. Unlike Hold ‘Em where they don’t require a necessary post-flop skill, in PLO players can have a certain disadvantage in the transference.

3.Having the nuts is important in PLO. If you don’t have the nuts or not drawing the nuts then you need to fold your cards immediately.

If your card is not a first rate nut then it’s not a good hand. Hands that are drawing no nuts are only considered as back up. In PLO, multiple players can have all kinds of nut at a time especially in post-flop.

4.PLO commonly depends on big draws, re-draws, blocking and back up cards.

If you’re drawing in PLO, how big can it be? Well, it’s probable that you’ll get a 20 out straight like having a 4589 hole card on a 67K flop. Any card that is 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 or Ten can make your hand which is more outstanding that a set of Kings. If you are fortunate enough to acquire a flush from the draw then it’s a better nut.

Re-draw refers to the nuts you and your opponent flop or turn resulting to getting a stronger hand. One good example would be having a card of AKQJ with a flop of TJQ and the other player has AKT5. With this card, you have a chance to redraw a full house with your two pair J and Q.

Blocking and backup card go together: these two poker terms can apply to draws that have no nuts and redraws that may give you the chance to win (backup) or lessen the other players’ chances of getting a better hand (blocking).

An instance of a blocking card is when the other player is drawing a hand like the nut flush in accordance to the flop, but fortunately you have two cards of the same suit (although you’re unaware of it). One good instance of a backup card would be having two pairs during the flop which can also make you draw a full house and a flush if you have a lot of cards in the same suit.