Never Limp from the SB?

[nightlyraver]

Just wanted to get some feedback on this little bit of poker theory:

Say you're playing in a typical MTT and you're far from the money. You're sitting on a stack that's a bit above average, but nothing special. Maybe the BB has you covered by a bit, maybe you have him covered by a bit. The table is a bit loose, like many many online MTT's, but besides that mose players are playing pretty str8 forward.

In a situation like this, I like to never limp if it's folded to me in the SB - ever! My reasoning is fairly intuitive. If I have a decent hand or I want to steal, I'll certainly open for a raise and I won't ever slowplay. Many times you win the blinds and that is that. If you do happen to get called, at least you can put most players on some type of range. If I have junk and I don't choose to steal, I don't mind just relinquishing my small blind.

Simply calling, IMO, is a negative expectation over time. You can get into real trouble if you flop something decent and the BB hits some random two pair or str8. Also, if you both have nothing and you bluff at it, you're no better off than if you stole preflop. You're only profitting from a limp if you flop something good and the BB flops a good second best hand. I also believe that the BB is more prone to bluff at the flop with a bet or a raise if you just limp. Additionally, you can't just limp with your mediocre hands or you'll be too predicatable - you will also need to limp with your big hands. So, you also lose those chips that you may have accumulated had you raised with the big hands, got a call and then took it down on the flop. Lastly, if you aggregate all those times that you would have limped with a speculative hand and then folded on the flop, you could use those chips to steal the blinds and those steal should more than make up for the time when your small blind passes to the player on the left.

The only time when I like to limp from time to time from the SB is when it's late in the tourney, stacks are deep and players are getting tricky.

Do you guys think this is a sound strategy? I'd like some thoughts and suggestions about this line of play...

[BettyBoopAA]

I think it matters who's in the big blind. If you are in the BB, how would you counter the small blind who always raises or sometimes fold? You would call sometime with big hands to trap, many times you would reraise.
I would never fold the small blind heads up with the BB, unless the BB raises a good amount of the time.

[11t]

I believe in "never say never" in poker

[jimotto]

I only limp monsters. Or total crap.

[DyessMan89]

I steal blind from the SB if its folded to me 2/3 of the time. The other 1/3 of the time I flat call, but take a stab at the flop no matter what hits. I do this to mix things up, and to make it not so obvious that Im stealing every time I decide to raise from the SB in this situation.

[locutus2002]

I think never is the wrong word to use in poker.

As far as limping in the small blind, I think its one of the best things you can do. You get good pot odds, and your hands are well concealed, and you keep the pot small when you are OOP.

[betgo]

I usually raise 3xBB or fold. I sometimes limp. I also sometimes push or make a minirase depending on the circumstances. It depends a lot on the size of the blinds, the tournament situation, your hand, and how the BB is playing.

I don't see anything wrong with folding junk. You are out of position postflop. Playing heads up when the SB is also the button, you want to play most hands.

[A_PLUS]

I tend to limp more often than anything, and it is one of my favorite / best , chip accumulating spots in a MTT. I think it totally depends on the characteristic of the BB and your skill set. If I have an aggressive BB (preflop), I will limp call, check-raise the flop quite often. Once again, it really depends. But my default is limp, then again I play alot of HU SNGs, so post flop play with any two is something I am used to.

[nightlyraver]

Read the beginning of the OP and not just the title. I'm not saying NEVER limp, I'm saying that I never limp if about 6 or 7 conditions are satisfied (i.e. style, type of tournament, type of table, chip position, stage of tournament, etc.)

[nightlyraver]

See, this I feel is bad strategy. If you were on my right and I'm the BB in this situation, I would raise you many many times and take your blind. Think about it, you will have total crap MUCH more frequently than monsters. Also, some "monsters" are very bad to limp with, like AK for example.