So far, most of the strategic concepts discussed relate to limit hold’em games. However, pot-limit and no-limit games present their own unique circumstances.

It’s important to note that maniacs can dominate a bigmoney game, especially when stoked with big bankrolls against timid opponents. Players who are afraid to lose their chips fall victim to the maniac’s hyper-aggressive tendencies. In a sense, they get run over. Once the maniac discovers this weakness, he simply launches raise after raise at his helpless opponent, and more often than not will win pot after pot – even though he likely doesn’t have the best hand. Such dynamics are simply not possible in limit hold’em games, since the amount of betting is fixed on each round and opponents are less likely to be intimidated by the size of the wager.

This concept is important because it’s essential to accept the reality that bankroll swings in pot-limit and no-limit hold’em games will be much more severe with a maniac at the table. In pot-limit and no-limit games it is far more difficult to ‘find out where you are at’ – to use a common poker expression – with a bet or raise when facing a maniac.

For example, with a strong but vulnerable hand such as Q-Q, it is probably best to throw your hand away when you bet out and are raised by an opponent after an Ace fl ops. In a conventional game, the opponent is likely to have an Ace, which means you are beat. But when a maniac raises in this situation, you are forced to play a guessing game, which is not a good position to be in.

The long and the short of it is that it's tough to play against maniacs in pot-limit and no-limit games when contrasted with fixed-limit games.