When to limp?

[Ghazban]

More than anything, it depends on the type of players in the blinds. As an extreme example, say the players in the blinds will call any raise with any two cards because they love to protect their blinds. Say they also play very badly postflop. In this instance, openlimping a hand like 54s would be greatly preferable to raising it as you're almost certainly behind at the moment but you definitely want to see a flop with the hand and you will be able to outplay the over-defending blind guys postflop.

Granted, that's an extreme example but it should illustrate some of the potential benefits of openlimping in LP.

In the Party 1/2 6-max games where I spend most of my time, I generally don't openlimp from the CO or button but that's primarily because I get the blinds preflop or take it down on the flop a very large percentage of the time.

[subzero]

Thanks. I hope your switch to 6-max is going well.

[PaultheS]

Fair enough. I guess it's hard to make any rule like that in NL hold 'em, as there are always exceptions with specific reads...

However, at the Party $100NL 6-max, I can't remember the last time I limped from the CO/button.

[cwsiggy]

Another point Barry made was that in NL, the blinds are not worth stealing. Hands like k10, j10 that you would normally raise to steal the blinds, he wouldn't even play. Though if it completely folded to him in CO, I'm not sure.

[xorbie]

Here's the deal. If a bad, predictable, player you have position on will play a big pot with you with his J5o when the flop comes J78 and you have 9Ts, feel free to limp in. Hell, feel free to limp in with AA. There have been 6-max games where I open limped like 40% of my hands on the button/CO and never raised just because the BB was so bad that I wanted to play as many pots as I could with him. Having blinds fold has an EV of 1.5 BB, limping and folding after the flop has an EV of -1BB, so you really just have to take 2.5 BB off him once in a while to make limping ok, and it's pretty easy because people will fold to your flop bets anyway most of the time (i.e. if they have no pair no draw).

[crosse91]

why are you not limping any small pair in ANY position?

[subzero]

I never said I didn't. I was responding to Jimbio's post:
[ QUOTE ]
To give this thread a bump, i might clarify that what i speak of is open limping in late position...

[/ QUOTE ]

[crosse91]

ohh, ok just checking. and for the record, i limp with all kinds of marginal hands when the tables right.

[subzero]

[ QUOTE ]
ohh, ok just checking. and for the record, i limp with all kinds of marginal hands when the tables right.

[/ QUOTE ]
Worse than suited 1-gaps or A-x suited? I'll limp with worse on the button because of position and weak blind players.

[crosse91]

i'll limp with these in mp and even MAYBE ep if the table is a thing of beauty.