Every so often you’ll find yourself in a no-limit cash game with a player who plays most hands, over-raises every pot and goes in at will – a nutter basically. Some of them are calculating players using an exaggerated tournament technique, sometimes they’re just morons who hate money. Either way it presents you with a problem: you won’t be able to play small pots and you may have to make decisions for your whole stack early in the hand.

It’s important to understand that with this sort of player the price of poker goes up. It will cost you more to enter pots and more to play through the streets. Because of this, against such a player, your swings will be bigger. If you can accept this and embrace it there is money to be made. The maniac is (probably) playing poorer cards than you and is playing them too fast.

If you can play pots against this person, which you’re sure will be heads-up, you can lower your standards slightly. For example, you might well play A-10 against him that you would fold to another player. In fact you might re-raise to try and get the nutter heads-up.

Make battle on your terms and don’t be provoked into a war – that’s his territory. Instead, play him in position, wait for some strong hands (against this guy top pair is usually enough) and punish his recklessness.