I played my longest $2/4 session last night trying to beat a maniac at his own game and ended down just over $200 (50BB). It would have been more but thankfully I got some cards towards the end of the session and it took the maniac a little while to realize that his heater-plus-over-eager-oba-fuelled winnings ($300+) would most likely evaporate if he stayed at the table much longer.
In the cold light of day – with 7 hours sleep behind me – I reviewed the session and felt pretty sick about what I saw: hand after hand butchered and worst of all during the game I was making little effort to strengthen reads over time .
I was gambling with the villain and hoping he would pwn himself. Guess who got pwned? 
Lesson #1: Tiredness is tilt.
I was too tired to play in such a high variance situation last night. I’d say this is the best example I’ve had of tiredness-tilt in a while. Don’t do it!
Lesson #2: Maniacs are not complete idiots.
I’m not comfortable calling this guy a maniac to be honest. Having reviewed the hands he is definitely thinking about his hand and how it interacts with the board. He’s a thinking gambler.
On the other hand I don’t want to complicate matters by introducing another term for people that raise a lot of hands pre-flop and apply heaps of aggression post. Instead, I have to remember that just because someone plays like maniac doesn’t make them a complete idiot.
Thank you, sir, for these lessons.
stats from session
Here is a selection of misplayed hands. I won’t try to excuse my play cos at the time the thought process was just plain optimistic level 0.
Hand #1
Poker Stars $2/$4 Limit Hold’em – 6 players – View hand 1261336
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter
Pre Flop: (1.5 SB) Hero is BB with A
3
UTG raises, 2 folds, BTN calls, SB 3-bets, Hero calls, UTG calls, BTN calls
Flop: (12 SB) 4 Q
2 (4 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, UTG folds, BTN folds, SB calls
Turn: (8 BB) 9 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks
River: (8 BB) A (2 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, SB 3-bets, Hero calls
Final Pot: 14 BB
Hero mucks A 3
SB shows 9
2 (two pair, Nines and Deuces)
SB wins 13.5 BB
(Rake: $2.00)
Hand #2
Poker Stars $2/$4 Limit Hold’em – 4 players – View hand 1261337
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter
Pre Flop: (1.5 SB) Hero is BB with 8 9
2 folds, SB raises, Hero calls
Flop: (4 SB) 8 K 6 (2 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, SB calls
Turn: (4 BB) T (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB raises, Hero calls
River: (8 BB) 2 (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls
Final Pot: 10 BB
Hero mucks 8 9
SB shows J K (a pair of Kings)
SB wins 9.75 BB
(Rake: $1.00)
Hand #3
Poker Stars $2/$4 Limit Hold’em – 5 players – View hand 1261338
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter
Pre Flop: (1.5 SB) Hero is SB with 4 9
2 folds, BTN raises, Hero 3-bets, 1 fold, BTN calls
Flop: (7 SB) 4 6 Q (2 players)
Hero bets, BTN calls
Turn: (4.5 BB) T (2 players)
Hero bets, BTN raises, Hero calls
River: (8.5 BB) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets, Hero calls
Final Pot: 10.5 BB
Hero mucks 4 9
BTN shows 7 9 (a straight, Six to Ten)
BTN wins 10 BB
(Rake: $2.00)
Hand #4
Poker Stars $2/$4 Limit Hold’em – 6 players – View hand 1261341
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter
Pre Flop: (1.5 SB) Hero is SB with A J
2 folds, CO calls, BTN raises, Hero 3-bets, 1 fold, CO calls, BTN caps!, Hero calls, CO calls
Flop: (13 SB) 6 Q 9 (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BTN bets, Hero calls, CO calls
Turn: (8 BB) 8 (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BTN bets, Hero calls, CO calls
River: (11 BB) 4 (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BTN bets, Hero calls, CO calls
Final Pot: 14 BB
Hero mucks A J
CO mucks J 9
BTN shows 5 7 (a straight, Five to Nine)
BTN wins 13.5 BB
(Rake: $2.00)
Hand #5
Poker Stars $2/$4 Limit Hold’em – 5 players – View hand 1261342
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter
Pre Flop: (1.5 SB) Hero is BB with 7 T
2 folds, BTN calls, SB raises, Hero calls, BTN calls
Flop: (6 SB) T 9 8 (3 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, BTN calls, SB 3-bets, Hero calls, BTN calls
Turn: (7.5 BB) A (3 players)
SB bets, Hero calls, BTN calls
River: (10.5 BB) 5 (3 players)
SB bets, Hero calls, BTN calls
Final Pot: 13.5 BB
Hero mucks 7 T
BTN mucks Q T
SB shows Q J (a straight, Eight to Queen)
SB wins 13 BB
(Rake: $2.00)
Hand #6
Poker Stars $2/$4 Limit Hold’em – 6 players – View hand 1261343
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter
Pre Flop: (1.5 SB) Hero is UTG with T 8
Hero raises, 4 folds, BB 3-bets, Hero calls
Flop: (6.5 SB) 3 K 5 (2 players)
BB bets, Hero raises, BB calls
Turn: (5.25 BB) 5 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets, BB calls
River: (7.25 BB) 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets, BB calls
Final Pot: 9.25 BB
Hero shows T 8 (a pair of Fives)
BB shows Q Q (two pair, Queens and Fives)
BB wins 9 BB
(Rake: $1.00)
