Using the Limp-Reraise to Combat Maniacs

You sit down to a table with mostly solid or passive players with the exception of one guy on the other end of the table.  This player raises almost every pot and even tends to re-raise somewhat light.  You saw him move all-in with A-10 against a pre-flop raiser who called with A-Q and then lost when a ten hit the turn.  This maniac is chipping up and you are waiting for a big hand to take some chips off of him.  You finally get that hand.  You pick up pocket kings in early position.  Now, what do you do?  Might I suggest a somewhat unorthodox play, and that is to limp in.  You may look at me a bit crazy, but if things go as plan, you may be doing the old “limp-re-raise” trick on this player.  Let’s look at this further.

Would you limp with this hand?

Unless this maniac player has an absolute soul read on you, there is a good chance that he may try and make a play at the pot.  In fact, you are hoping he will make a play.  In this case, you want the play to make some sort of outlandish raise so that you can make another crazy raise back at him. This re-raise is going to be a bit confusing to the player.  Obviously the first thing that is going to come to his mind is that you have a big hand.  However, he may start to overthink and wonder if you are trying to make a play at him.  If he has built up a decent stack that can withstand doubling you up, he may even choose to gamble depending on the game.

My best example of this scenario has already been laid out.  I was in a cash sit-n-go in Atlantic City and this player was doing exactly as stated above.  I limped in with pocket kings, and on cue this player decided to raise it up.  Interestingly enough, another player behind him decided to call his raise.  This gave me a great chance to move all-in against both players.  The maniac looked at me a bit confused and finally called.  The other player just smiled at me and mucked.  I showed my kings and was up against A-7.  A king on the flop sealed it and I more than doubled up.

The above play is one that works better at a table with a true maniac player or a table that has at least one player guaranteed to raise in late position.  Yes, this is adverse to most poker logic and could very well backfire if players choose to call.  However, sometimes you will need to take gambles like this to combat maniac players at the table.  This is an example of a highly situational play that worked.  It will not work in every situation, but is something to keep in mind if and when you come across a similar situation.

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