Poker Log Entry for NatePringle

All the comments are because it is a very tough situation we all get into but never can master..
 
EightFive, you never bother any of us with your thoughts!

My strategy against crazy maniacs is to play the complete opposite of them. I call everything against them and trap them for all their chips.I think this was a perfect opportunity in heads-up play to do that. A10 in heads-up play is a monster. I limped/slowplayed my monster expecting the all-in shove and called with the best hand. Looking back on it more and more, I stand with my play, although I understand your thought process on the hand DeiYuo. I didn't expect so many comments on this hand, lol.

Yeah if you can shove on him once in a while to neutralize it and get back to playing poker i agree, but if you are trading all ins then i think limping with a big had could be the best way to get it all in as a favorite...in general i obv. agree though that anyway you can play HU as the better player and play smaller pots will be better.  anyways i will officially leave this post behind and stop annoying the OPL community lol

Very valid points.. when I am in that situation I don't look at it so black and white.
 
Put yourself in this guys mind.  He is shoving all-in everyhand and you are "letting him".  Because, YOU FOLD.  That is fine.  It is easy to be an all-in maniac when the other player will fold.  Instead of waiting for a hand to call with flip it on him.
 
Don't limp in the SB then let him shove, you shove 1st. See how crazy he really is, throw the pressure back on him and even the balance of power.  It is easy to move in with anything but very hard to call with the same nothing.
 
*Most* of the time this shocks your opponent and gets them back on the defense, calming the situation down.

That was exactly my thought process. I have grinded out wins against weak tight players, playing only small pots. However against the maniac I was going against who basically wanted to just end the match quick, I figured my A10 was at worst a 60/40 favorite.

I know exactly what Deiyuo is talking about when he says you can fold and given the blinds and how much time you have to grind him down that is very possibly the best play.  However, if he flips over his hand and I know I am 75% to win, I am taking this every time.  Maybe I am not giving myself enough credit, but this dude would have to be super weak/tight for me to think I could beat him more than 75% of the time HU. 
 
Maybe this is taking the convo. too far since any real tourney situation is still assuming you can't see his cards, but are we really more than 3:1 to beat someone HU, especially if they are playing bad (but aggressive) as opposed to bad (but weak)?
 
Edit: Also, on the hypothetical, if he is shoving every hand, and the situation comes up where on one of the shoves he shows you his hand....isn't 75% the best you could hope for realistically compared to the times when you don't see his hand.  You can't wait for JJ+ because at this stage of the tourney the blinds will likely kill you by the time you pick up a monster like that.  So, if he is pushing everyhand and you wait for something as strong as AQ or so, you are probably still only a 60/40 favorite against his random two.  So, basically I guess what I think I am saying is that if he is going to push everytime I think that calling with AT is a good play.  Only if this guy was playing really weak and YOU could bully HIM, should you fold AT...in my opinion lol.  This was all very fresh in my head when I started typing, sorry so long.  Feel free to criticize my thinking as always.

Ya, I think I chose to just call there because A. I was tired, haha and B. It was really tough to just play small ball and grind it out against him only because he was starting to push all-in almost every hand. That's definitely a good point that you make though. It would have been nicer if I had more of a chip lead so I could handle the loss like you said.

Nice hit! I can only say this.. although you made the right call.. this guy new you were a better player and his only move left was all in agro boy.
 
You did NOT have to make that call even if his hand was face up.  Why? Because you know the donk beats you 24%(% may be off) of the time.
 
I look back at situations like that and think, "damn, I could have just folded and grinded him down to win".  If you think it is worth the risk then make that call.  I opt to make sure I have them chip dominated and can fade that loss before I do as you end up crippled.
 
Just my thoughts.

Ya, that guys was chipleader wire to wire. He was the utmost definition of a maniac, so I felt I could easily trap him....he just got lucky. I'm still happy with the 2nd. I want to play more tournies, but it's just hard to find the time.

What the hell is that shove? Of the few times I have gotten deep in tourneys I have never seen someone making this ridiculous of a bet still playing.  Unreal.  Anyways good score still.