Dealing With A Maniac

I was playing a $100NL session with a maniac (who was also a complete toon) on my left who would raise most of his hands and barrel with seemingly any two cards. Of course, there are several ways of dealing with this such as tightening up, trapping, and being willing to call down light. Against some players, who will fire one barrel and shut down, floating, even out of position can be effective. Being out of position against someone who will continue to fire makes calling down light an expensive proposition and after having to fold a couple pots to the villain earlier, I started playing him more aggressively. In the first hand, floating the flop only to fold the turn ends up being a huge leak. In the second and third hand, once I had him short stacked, I was happy just to put as much pressure on him as possible even on the thinnest of value lines.

In the first hand, I limp/called because I wanted to see a flop with this hand and knew the villain would raise, but didn't want to be calling a 3bet out of position with this hand. On the flop, an 8 is in his range, but unlikely. I assume that he'd raise pre-flop with any strong broadway cards or a pocket pair, but his range is much wider than that. A four is certainly a possibility, but decided to float and jam any card that paired me or gave me additional outs.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) ($101.40)
BB ($151.70)
UTG ($100)
MP ($101.50)
CO ($175.45)
Button ($100)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7, 10
4 folds, Hero calls $0.50, BB bets $4, Hero calls $3

Flop: ($8) 8, 8, 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $5, Hero calls $5

Turn: ($18) J (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $10, Hero raises to $92.40 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $38 | Rake: $1.85

Results:
Hero didn't show 7, 10 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $36.15

Again, the same situation. Normally, I'd raise a hand like this from the button or SB, but thought I'd let the short-stacked BB bet to limit the amount of money going in pre-flop. My 3bet is, of course, somewhat ridiculously sized, but I was happy to get it in with middle pair (for value) against this opponent when I was pretty sure I was ahead and also wanted to discourage the flush draws in his range. Obviously, donkeys still exist at $100NL.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) ($125.85)
BB ($30.20)
UTG ($107.75)
MP ($191)
CO ($172.45)
Button ($100)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9, 7
4 folds, Hero calls $0.50, BB checks

Flop: ($2) K, 7, 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $4, Hero raises to $22, BB raises to $29.20 (All-In), Hero calls $7.20

Turn: ($60.40) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($60.40) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $60.40 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had 9, 7 (one pair, sevens).
BB mucked Q, 3 (one pair, threes).
Outcome: Hero won $57.40

Thinner still...and the last hand played with the villian:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) ($182.75)
BB ($8.75)
UTG ($106.75)
MP ($201)
CO ($169.45)
Button ($100)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 6, 4
4 folds, Hero calls $0.50, BB checks

Flop: ($2) Q, 4, K (2 players)
Hero bets $1, BB raises to $5, Hero raises to $9, BB calls $2.75 (All-In)

Turn: ($17.50) J (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($17.50) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $17.50 | Rake: $0.85

Results:
Hero had 6, 4 (one pair, fours).
BB mucked 2, 6 (high card, King).
Outcome: Hero won $16.65

Sometimes all you can do is shake your head and take the money.

Poker, Hold'em, 6max