That’s right, no matter how well you play, how much time you spend trying to surround yourself with friendly, reliable, calm players, you’re going to eventually end up in that one online poker tournament where the maniac gambler shows his face. This guy’s raising so much you have to factor it into you’re pre-bet strategy as an assumption.

So how do you handle this guy? There are many schools of thought, and they all have valid advice to give depending on what your tendencies are as a player.

A maniac player is just another name for a bully, and like a bully in any other situation, they’re looking to expose and abuse your weakness. If you’re playing tight, that’s a perceived weakness and he’ll target you to throw you out of your comfort zone and out of the hand. As a calculated tactic, bullying can actually be quite strategic. However, most of the time the bully gets carried away in the moment, and eventually just becomes “that guy” who raises every hand.

As I was saying, though, the bully will back down at most signs of true strength. Although, a bully is not to be taken lightly. Just because he seems out of control doesn’t mean he is. He might be playing over the top the first hour to see what emotional response he can pull out of you, and he might be trying to read you during a strong return or initial bet on your part. So I would recommend, if you are going to try to butt heads with the PokerStars maniac, that you are either confident in your ability to bluff, or just wait until you have a strong enough hand to back up your wager. The upside to playing a bully is if you have the cards, it’s free money.

It’s easy to put the maniac on nothing when he bets pre-flop, too. If he’s betting at least 75 percent of the time, then statistically speaking he will have nothing more often than not. Don’t play your strategy any different than you normally would when it comes to this, though. Assuming someone who may be difficult to read has nothing is a recipe for disaster. Especially since it’s someone you’re not likely to knock out before the flop, thus giving him at least one big chance to catch a card.

Just accept the bully, that’s the best option, and when the time is right, strike with confidence.