Defending vs. KillPhil

I play in a regular Thursday night private tournament on PokerStars, with players from www.chiptalk.net. I am also reading the Kill Phil book, primarily to defend against the KillPhil strategy. I was put to the test last night.

Early in the game, I had AA cracked by QQ, and my stack was reduced to about 800. Weak-tight semi-regular player is sitting to my left. With blinds at 25/50, I am in the SB with 560 and get KQs. Solid player in MP opens with a raise to 200. Folded around to me in SB and I push. Weak-tight calls 510 more with a stack of 1522. Original raiser thinks for a long time and just calls. They check it down, and I hit trip queens and triple up to 1680. From the hand history, solid player had JJ, which is about what I put him on (99-JJ, maybe AQ), and Weak-tight player had 97s. Yikes – not Weak-tight, he’s just a Maniac tonight.

On the very next hand, LAG player in late position calls 50 with A4o. Maniac pushes in the BB with T8s, and hits trip tens for the double-up. I comment that someone has been reading the Kill Phil book, and Maniac feigns ignorance, but also makes a comment that leads me to believe he knows the strategy (which he is playing, but badly by calling too much). He also comments that he doesn’t care about the outcome of the game. (He went on to take 3rd, so I don’t buy that he doesn’t care.) He also comments that he would have called with 97s against JJ in the prior hand, which I believe.

On the next hand its folded to me in the CO. I raise to 155 with junk, and Weak-loose pushes on the Button. Blinds fold and I have to fold, also.

This, of course, is all set-up for the confrontation. On the very next hand, with blinds still at 25-50 and a stack of 1525, I get 66. I raise to 300. Maniac again pushes and has me covered. Its folded back around to me. 1370 to win a pot of 1600, giving me about 1.1 to 1 on the call.

Based on his history in this game, do I call? He’s called my short-stack all in with 97, and he’s pushed against a raise with T8. He’s showing that he is probably pushing with just about anything, so his range of possible hands is huge.

I called. He had QQ and I was bounced. Based on some PokerStove calculations, I was probably about 52/48 favorite based on his range of hands. Because these hands happened in quick succession, it was easier to make this call – he was showing all the signs of a raging maniac. If I has a slightly better hand, like 88, it would be a 58/42 advantage. Close decision.

It all worked out for the best, because I was able to focus on a few Party $1/2 NL tables and booked a $130 night – enough to cover the full quarter of entry fees in the private tournament.