"I totally agree. Dealing with hyper-aggressive players or maniacs can be mentally exhausting, but they are often the biggest sub-optimal baseline sources of value if you adjust correctly.
Instead of playing a guessing game or fighting them in bloated pots with marginal hands, my favorite adjustments are:
- Tighten up and widening the trapping range: Let them built the pot for you when you have premium hands. Checking the nuts on the flop and watching them barrel three streets is maximum EV.
- Lowering the sizing of our opens/3-bets: This forces them to risk more to bluff us, while keeping the pot manageable when we are still defining our equity.
- Be prepared for higher variance: Patience is key, but we shouldn't play scared poker. When the math dictates a call (especially in MTTs with bounty considerations), we have to trust our ranges and pull the trigger.
It’s all about staying disciplined and letting their own aggression do the dirty work for us. Good luck at the tables everyone!"