1'st in middle position w/ a raise - do you not?

[Mike]

Clarkmeister has a dead money post in Mid - High stakes that got me to thinking about this. You may want to check Clarkmeister's post and the replies out if haven't all ready.

I don't like to just call in middle position because those blinds are looking good by the time the folds get to me. Interestingly enough few players seem to realize the reason for the raise. I sometimes hear complaining such as, "Don't you know how to anything but raise?!!!" I don't mind it as many players see it as blanket raising, not as a positional raising.

Maybe I am not seeing this correctly but if it's folded to me in MP or later, there won't be that many to see the flop to start with, and those that call outside of the blinds are real threats to my hand. So in my thinking, few players + little money + possible post flop trauma = raise

Does anyone simply call first in from MP or later, and if so why?

[JohnShaft]

Not really at all. In MP I might think about it depending on my hand and how likely those after me are likely to call anyway. And probably raise anyway.

It still amazes me the number of times I see someone open limp in the Cutoff or even on the Button. I hope to never really do this in my life. I just don't see the point. And to me doing this any number of times is the sign of a player who really doesn't understand the game.

Maybe there's a hand/situation or two it would make sense to do it. But it just ain't the way I play.

[J.R.]

I agree with your thoughts, just beware of late position open limps from notriously tricky players, this often indicates a big hand.

[Stu Pidasso]

You may want to open limp in middle position with AA or KK if raising is likely to just win the blinds for you. Hopefully this will not be the case as you will have opened raised so much preflop that people will start calling your raises when you got the monsters. Sometimes if I am new to an especially tight table I will open limp with AA or KK.

Stu

[TBone]

I oftentimes find myself being a victim of using the "auto" buttons, particularly if I'm doing something else while playing. (ie. reading some wonderfully exciting material for work, etc.) I'm guessing I'm not the only who falls victim to this occasionally by being first one in and just calling? I've made an effort now to not auto play any of the hands I've decided are worth playing however. (in other words, put the stunningly well-written, tremendously exciting technical reading material for work down)

Wouldn't it be good to mix it up on occasion in this spot though, particularly if the blind(s) have proven to not allow you to steal their cash?

T

[Rick Diesel]

I would estimate that I open limp less than 1% in any position. About the only time that I open limp is if I am on the button with AA or KK and want to get some play.

Rick Diesel

[J.R.]

Wouldn't it be better to raise with more hands, not less, to mix it up? If the blinds are defending frequently, you should keep raising with your better hands (you are less steal-raising and more value raising), because they are defending with average hands. Also, you get value by open-raising hands that play well in shorthanded pots in that you tend eliminate others, even when the blinds call.

[Luke]

How do handle being the first in, in MP or even the CO or button, with hands like 76s or 44? Now naturally you would normally prefer multiway action with these hands. And if you raise and are called by one player you are most likely a dog with a small suited connector. If 2 people call your raise then you likely become a dog with your small pair and more importantly it may become difficult to play once paint starts hitting the board.

So do you just muck these type of hands first in from MP or LP? If so, whereabouts do you draw the line?

Luke

[JohnShaft]

Yeah how I handle them is by not playing them mostly. If I've got a couple "will call with any 2" after me I might take a flier. But almost always 44, and 76s, even 66 will go in the muck from LMP.

At the tables I play I'll typically get cold called by a player (maybe 2) with mediocre big cards, something poor like KJ, and if they hit any of the flop they're staying. And they'll also typically call the flop no matter what, meaning I have to bet the turn too to find out if they're beaten and will fold. If they don't fold I'm very likely beaten (and have a tricky river bet/call). 44/66 etc, are not the kind of hands I want to be playing for a raise out of position against one or two of these players. Hands like AJ, AT, even KQ, that often dominate their hands, are.

If I'm Cutoff or Button, it's utterly raise or fold.

It may not be the best strategy, but, for my games, it's the best I've been able to come up with so far.

[bernie]

"It still amazes me the number of times I see someone open limp in the Cutoff or even on the Button. I hope to never really do this in my life. I just don't see the point."

there's a point to it. though most players wont have it in mind when they play this way. it has to do with how loose the blinds are. if youre raise has virtually no chance of gaining the blinds since the players are overdefending, probably with any 2, you can limp with hands and raise with youre better hands.

many open raises from LP with hands like J9s or whatever, are forms of preflop semi-bluffs. but if there's almost no chance of buying the blinds...the value of the raise goes down with some hands. that said, if the blinds play passive, you can see many more hands in this situation for cheap, and have position against usually weak players.

just some ideas...

b