SIDE NOTE:

It's always amazing to me how poorly people play against maniacs -- classic example here where HJ and SB her called the straddle then folded to the raise they KNOW is coming.

They should also not passively call with trash, but having a maniac in the game seems to encourage that... they see the maniac playing trash so they do the same. And then fold when they don't smash it. They keep praying for a miracle flop to double up vs the maniac.

All of which plays right into the maniac's game. A good maniac can take advantage of all this dead money to cushion his otherwise sub-optimal ranges, and force out better hands that have too many people behind.

It can make for a very frustrating dynamic when you keep getting hands that you know beat the maniac's range but other goofers are in the pot behind you bloating and confusing everything.

In that kind of table dynamic I generally try to sit close to the maniac's right, which is opposite to where I'd normally want to sit vs my primary target, and let the goofers be in the middle.