Why You Should Check-Raise Top Pair Versus an Aggressive Maniac
Let's face it. The check-raise in poker is a beautiful thing. For example, when used correctly, check-raising allows you to get the maximum amount of money in the pot when you think you have the best hand.
However, one mistake that I see a lot of people making, especially at the lower stakes, is only check-raising when they have a monster hand like two pair, a set, trips or a huge combo draw. In order to maximize the power of the check-raise — especially at the low and micro stakes — you should be doing it with a wider range than this.
This is particularly so when playing against certain players, such as when up against an aggressive maniac when you have top pair.
First off, what is an aggressive maniac? These are players who are usually playing around 50 percent (or more) of the hands that are dealt to them. They are also raising or reraising preflop very frequently and often betting, raising, and bluffing after the flop as well.
A player like this has a very wide range, so when you have a strong top pair hand you often want to play a big pot.
Here is a hand illustrating an example of just such an opponent.
In this hand we are playing 5NL full ring online and we raise preflop in early position with a beautiful hand, A♥K♥. We immediately get called by an aggressive maniac in middle position and by a regular player on the button.
Now it is important to note here that the regular player will be easy to play against. Such players tend to play their hands face up, especially at the lower stakes. They will only call us with a decent hand preflop and they will only get aggressive after the flop if they hit something good.
The aggressive maniac, though, is literally playing half the deck. He can have almost anything when he calls us preflop.
Top Pair, Top Kicker is a Monster Hand Versus a Loose-Aggressive Recreational Player
When we smash the flop with top pair, top kicker, this is the perfect spot to go for a check-raise instead of the "standard" play which is just to lead out with a continuation bet.
The reason why is when we check to an aggressive maniac here, he is almost surely going to do what aggressive maniacs do — bet! He will do this with a wide range of hands, many of which have very poor equity against us. Sometimes he will even bet with total bluffs.
The fact that the regular player calls the bet on the flop is not a big deal, because like I said, most regulars at these stakes play their hands face-up. If the regular on the button actually hit this flop hard, then he would likely raise versus a recreational player who is often going to call.
When the action comes back to us, this becomes a perfect spot to make the "great play" which is to check-raise. Finding the great play at the lower stakes is something that I discuss in much more detail in my latest poker book, The Micro Stakes Playbook.
The reason why check-raising is the great play here is because it traps the maximum amount of money in the middle when we almost surely have the best hand.
Now I know that some people reading this will still protest — but we only have top pair! Why are we trying to play such a big pot?
The key thing to remember is just how wide this aggressive maniac's range is. Because it is so wide, top pair, top kicker actually is a monster hand versus this player.
Analyzing an Aggressive Maniac's Range
Let's think a little further about what kinds of hands our maniac opponent might have. He can have any KxXx hand. He can have open-ended straight draws with 7x9x or 7x5x, as well as gutshot straight draws with hands such as 10x9x, 10x7x, or 5x4x.
Lastly, since there are two spades on the board he can also have any flush draw as well. It is important to note that we do not have a spade in our hand. Therefore, we do not block any flush draws.
When you really consider just how wide this player's range is (and realize that we are way ahead of most of it), then this does become a routine invitation to check-raise.
If you really want to start maximizing your winnings at the lower stakes, then you need to be able to start clearly differentiating between recreational players and regular players. I would almost never play top pair, top kicker like this against a regular player, because I know that their range is a lot narrower and I will not get called by worse very often.
But a recreational player can have so many more hands when they call you preflop. It is also important to remember that recreational players absolutely hate to fold any pair or draw, no matter how bad it is.
So even though it might feel a little bit counterintuitive at first, it is really important that you learn to start playing bigger pots against the recreational players with a hand such as this.
Playing this way is how I have posted some of the highest winnings in online poker history in these games. I get the recreational player's chips much faster than the other regular players. That's because I am not sitting around waiting for a monster hand before I will play a big pot with them. I am willing to push thinner edges. And you should, too.
Let me know your thoughts below on check-raising top pair against an aggressive maniac. Do you think this is a profitable play?
Nathan "BlackRain79" Williams is the author of the popular micro stakes strategy books Crushing the Microstakes, Modern Small Stakes, and The Microstakes Playbook. He also blogs regularly about all things related to the micros over at www.blackrain79.com.
