general limp question

m_dolens

i was wanting to hear some opinions on limping in MTTs. when do you limp? how often? with what hands? in what position? against what type of players etc. etc.

i'm mostly curious because i rarely like to limp and i feel that i'm not making use of it enough in my game. i personally believe that one should not be limping a lot in most circumstances, but i was interested in knowing (for the most part) when do people choose to limp.

personally, i rather at least bet min as opposed to limping because i feel that giving (almost) any free cards is not (normally) a good idea.

schabs

against a very loose aggressive table where every hand someone is raising, i would probably limp UTG or +1 with KK or AA

Graham

Personally I hate limping as whenever I try it I get screwed, but I think against the right player it can be advantageous (esp. if they are really aggressive).

ReefAquarium

I'd also consider stack sizes and how well you play small ball , and how good your hand plays postflop, and how well your hand plays multiway.

m_dolens

schabs;150435 wroteagainst a very loose aggressive table where every hand someone is raising, i would probably limp UTG or +1 with KK or AA

is that the only time you will limp?

m_dolens

Graham;150446 wrotePersonally I hate limping as whenever I try it I get screwed, but I think against the right player it can be advantageous (esp. if they are really aggressive).

yes, this is exactly the same reason as to why i don't prefer to limp.

m_dolens

ReefAquarium;150454 wroteI'd also consider stack sizes and how well you play small ball , and how good your hand plays postflop, and how well your hand plays multiway.

i feel like my small ball game in mtts is decent at least. and i agree that one should be considering how one's starting hand stacks up postflop and versus multiple hands. since limping seems to suggest a multi-way pot, is it save to assume that i should only be limping with hands that do stand up to multi-way pots?

schabs

with KK or AA i would only limp UTG or +1 if the table was loose aggressive enough, and if i thought i pushed or re-raised that i would get paid off. other than that, i make a standard raise. your persona at the table comes into factor as well. if you showed a bluff before then, people might second guess your creditability for having a big hand. OR if your a considerably tight player and try this move, might not work.

Pantsonfire

Limping depends on a lot of factors. Obviously, I limp a lot more in deep stack situations in MTTs. I will also limp at passive tables, at tables who fear me too much, and at tables where even if there is a pf raise, the pot will still be multiway.

As a matter of fact, that last one is an interesting case. Let's take some examples from UB where I play a lot. Medium buyin tournaments start with 1500 chips and 5/10 blinds. A standard raise is pot which is 35. With stacks that deep, you are frequently in multiway raised pots with guys playing cards like A8o and K7s.

So say you have a hand like AQ or 99 in mid to early. A raise is going to likely end up mulitway. This might be good for 99 who would love to hit a set and built a big pot. But what about AQ. If you raise and get called in 4 or 5 spots and a A hits, you have built a 150-200 pot and are really not sure where you stand.

Getting back to limping. Limping can also be good in games where you know players are going to go too far with medium hands like TPTK. I get into a lot of pots early and try to have the discipline to get out if I don't flop exactly what I was looking for.

In deep stack situations, with loose preflop callers, you burn a lot of chips open-raising speculative hands like 109s and 55. You will get callers and most flops will miss you. You can't continuation bet into 4 guys with middle pair when you partially hit the flop. So basically you are building a nice pot for someone else to win.

As well, if you manage to stay at the same table, you can move to a raising strategy a few levels later and you will get respect from most players if this is the first raising you have been doing.

There's nothing wrong with playing tight aggressive early and raising with good hands and folding the rest. However, at the right tables, there are implied odds to get into pots with speculative hands. That might even mean limping UTG with JTs or 77. Limping behind in late postion you can really open up.

All you need is post-flop discipline and a good read of your table.