Limp From Small Blind?

[Onaflag]

This subject came up in a SS post I read earlier and got me and another 2+2 member debating. Assume in 2/4 that we're only talking about limping from the SB when there has been 3-4 limpers in front of you.

What are your limping standards? Any Ace? Any suited connector? One gappers? Don't change your standards? Tighten up? Loosen up?

Please try to give some reasoning behind your actions. Is a person losing out on potential profit by playing tight in this situation? Is a normally winning player who is loose in this situation ignoring a leak in his game? Assume one knows what to do once the flop hits.

Onaflag...........

[rybellcamp]

We need to be treating our posted SB as "pot" money (as opposed to "our" money). So when faced with the decision to complete our "limp" or not, we are in effect getting odds twice as good as a cold call (in 2/4 with 3 limpers plus the BB and SB you are looking at an $8.50 pot, for a cold call ($2) we would be getting 4.25 to 1, but for us we only need to post $1, hence giving us 8.5 to 1).

Assuming you know that the BB will not raise, you can generally loosen up with your limping requirements. Look mainly at loosening up with hands that can hit a good flop, (specifically a good drawing hand), as 2/4 limit players can be tricky. E.G. if you limp in with an Ace with a kicker 5 or lower, and flop your A, you need to proceed with caution, as alot of players like limping with A-x suited from early position, and you having top pair with kicker trouble is a hard spot to be in against any aggression. Now, drawing hands, on the other hand, are pretty cut and dry post flop, hence making decision time easier.

Small pocket pairs and suited connectors are good, so long as you can read flops well (especially any PP, as the odds of flopping a set are about 7.5-1, and so getting 8.5-1 from the pot preflop is as good as it gets!). Be aware that, while getting twice the odds is a big consideration (enough so that limping with nice drawing hands is almost necessary), so is the fact that you are in significantly bad position.

I say, loosen up, but loosen up with hands that you play well post-flop, as being in early position can lead to tough descisions. The last thing you want to do is take a potentially profitable situation, and end up turning it into a HUGE variance promoter. Cause naturally, the more hands you play, the bigger your variance, so if you add hands that you are inexperienced with, you can involuntarily create yourself a really big leak in your game. It is a fine line. We can't forget that the whole point of limping is to try and turn a toothpick into a lumber yard, so steer towards hands that can really flop some goodness! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Peace