limping 1st in?

[CrazyAzn]

Can anyone convince me that it is ever correct to limp 1st in, in a shorthanded game?? I rarely do this, b/c even if the blinds I am attacking are too loose i will most likely have the best hand(i mostly play good Hot and Cold hands shorthanded... not too many suited connectors)... and if they are decently tight then i can always have a chance to steal the blinds.

the 1 caveat... if the game is extremely loose and i will likely NOT buy the button or EVER be able to steal the blinds.

peter

[mobes]

I would never limp in a shorthanded game, regardless of my position.

[sam h]

I very rarely limp first in in shorthanded situations, but may occasionally depending on game conditions. For instance, if I am very unlikely to take down the blinds with a raise and I hold QJs UTG and I have a good handle on my opponents and their preflop play then I will probably limp because 1) my hand plays well with several opponents anyway and has too much value to fold 2) by seeing whether anybody else raises I have a better idea of whether my cards are live or dominated and 3) if raising has higher EV it is only marginally so and I am usually happy to give that up in order to seem like "one of the boys" at tables full of the loose, generally mediocre players at the limits I tend to play.

[eMarkM]

I usually play aggressively and very rarely limp as well. OTOH, I was in a PP 3/6 5max game online when a certain member of the PP "Hall of Champions" who usually plays 20/40 and is a known pro popped in. I never saw someone limp in a s/h game so much before in my life. Maybe he was just experimenting on us LL players or something, but he would consistently limp and then fold to a bet if the flop didn't hit him. Then he did a lot of checking and calling with bottom pair. Maybe he was trying to leverage the overaggressive tendendices of the s/h players, I couldn't figure it out. He did eventually bust out that session, but it made me wonder.

[Toro]

This post is to reinforce/agree with all of you who have recommended against limping shorthanded. Mirage: good 10/20 He game, almost a full table but getting late. I get up for a bathroom break and when I get back the game has almost broken. There's 2 guys left and one of them doesn't want to play shorthanded. The other guy asks me if I want to play heads up and I say ok. Very ist hand, he's the SB/button and I'm the BB. He completes and I look down to find 2,3 offsuit so I see the flop for free not expecting anything out of this hand. The flop comes A,4,5 rainbow. I decide that the most deceptive play is to bet out. I get called to the river when the board pairs the 5. I bet out again and he raises and I just call in case he's full. He turns over something like K,5 and I win a nice pot. Maybe this example is extreme but I think it points out the danger of limping in a shothanded game!

[tewall]

If you were on the button and everyone before you folded, and the blinds would always call if you raised, limping in could be correct.

[CreamPuff]

Obviously if the blinds were EXTREMELY loose preflop
AND postflop, it would be correct to limp with
more hands...

An exception might be if the SB was a good player,
now you should probably always raise to isolate the
bad player 1 on 1 (even though he will call your raise
and flop bet virtually every time).

Like I said, I rarely actually limp in practice,
but it should be a part of your arsenal.

Another good time to limp, is in the SB if the BB likes
to raise too much..(limp-reraise)..Same goes for on
the button.

Some good players limp 3 handed on the button from 2+2...Ask JV and Tommy Angelo.

..convince me that it is ever correct to limp 1st
You really should be careful subjecting your play
to strict rules like this.

[KSU78]

Good point!

I limp quite often and sometimes with power hands. It is correct to slowplay at a higher frequency in a short-handed game. Raise, raise, raise does not necessarily always get the money.