Do you limp from early position?

[Cbabycee]

As the title asks, playing MTTs I see a lot of people limp from early position - then either hit absolute nonsense or have their AA beat by nonsense then spend the next 10 mins throwing donkeys and crap at the person they LET hit their nonsense.


If you do why do you do it? What are you hoping to achieve? Poker players need luck, but also skill, when you have the hand strengths and bet sizes down, you need to start being aware of the other players, their habits, tells, Your own table perception (what the other players think of you - did you get caught making a loose call? Did you check monsters?). All this information can be used to manipulate hands and players. When you limp you get zero information from the other players at all, The small and big blinds will probably call and they could have absolutely anything, so when the flop comes and they like it you have no clue if they’ve just hit a full house with 72 off.

Limping strong pairs is asking for bad beats with flushes and random straights. You don’t have to smash 44BB into a 4BB pot with AA, you can 3x raise, min raise to get as much money as possible into the pot. You can lose with AA and not go out of the game. MTTs are marathons not sprints. By limping you have no clue where you stand.

A lot of people have check fold selected on BB you limp and they check in, a min bet and they fold, I don’t understand a min bet from first, 3bet and 4 bet and they call? What hand wasn’t strong enough to raise from first but is to call a 4bet.

Am I missing something? I feel I’m no longer a novice and the difference is that I am able to take a lot of information from the other players and understand what they expect of me. If limping is a big part of your game does it work for you? Do you guess what your opponents hands are or do you just play what you have and the board and hope for the best?

How do you judge each hands, what information do you look for from other players - how accurate are you when you show down?

 

[5TR8 FLUSH]

I do limp sometimes hoping to 3 bet or trap. Sometimes it pays off other times it doesn't. I also think it depends in which rounds the tournament is in. I usually like being involved early, limping more often and depending on my chip stack and the table I might tighten up or try to stay aggressive. I think that many players are more loose early in tournaments. It also matters who's at the table, there are some players that seem to outplay me more times then I outplay them. If I make a FT, I tend to tighten up and raise the majority of the time that I play a hand.

 

[najisami]

As the title asks, playing MTTs I see a lot of people limp from early position - then either hit absolute nonsense or have their AA beat by nonsense then spend the next 10 mins throwing donkeys and crap at the person they LET hit their nonsense.

That's kind of funny, but very serious at the same time .
Anyway, I do agree 100% with everything you said in your post. Limping with big pairs, hoping to trap is definitely a recipe for disaster. I want to answer some of your questions, but I would only be repeating your own responses. Thank you for all the insights.

 

[pentazepam]

Only when I'm injured.

Seriously, you can construct a limping range when stacks are short but still over 10BB, but from EP AA, it is almost 100% a raise.

If you have some dynamics with aggressive players that attack limps, you can trap. But in general at least a mini raise with your premiums.

 

[s0ftdumps]

As the title asks, playing MTTs I see a lot of people limp from early position - then either hit absolute nonsense or have their AA beat by nonsense then spend the next 10 mins throwing donkeys and crap at the person they LET hit their nonsense.


If you do why do you do it? What are you hoping to achieve? Poker players need luck, but also skill, when you have the hand strengths and bet sizes down, you need to start being aware of the other players, their habits, tells, Your own table perception (what the other players think of you - did you get caught making a loose call? Did you check monsters?). All this information can be used to manipulate hands and players. When you limp you get zero information from the other players at all, The small and big blinds will probably call and they could have absolutely anything, so when the flop comes and they like it you have no clue if they’ve just hit a full house with 72 off.

Limping strong pairs is asking for bad beats with flushes and random straights. You don’t have to smash 44BB into a 4BB pot with AA, you can 3x raise, min raise to get as much money as possible into the pot. You can lose with AA and not go out of the game. MTTs are marathons not sprints. By limping you have no clue where you stand.

A lot of people have check fold selected on BB you limp and they check in, a min bet and they fold, I don’t understand a min bet from first, 3bet and 4 bet and they call? What hand wasn’t strong enough to raise from first but is to call a 4bet.

Am I missing something? I feel I’m no longer a novice and the difference is that I am able to take a lot of information from the other players and understand what they expect of me. If limping is a big part of your game does it work for you? Do you guess what your opponents hands are or do you just play what you have and the board and hope for the best?

How do you judge each hands, what information do you look for from other players - how accurate are you when you show down?

Limping from early position in MTTs often leads to unnecessary trouble. It’s true that poker is about both luck and skill, and gathering information is key. By raising, you force opponents to reveal the strength of their hands, whereas limping leaves you in the dark and vulnerable to getting out-flopped by weaker hands that shouldn’t have seen the flop in the first place.

 

[dorsk]

Limping isn’t in my playbook

 

[Gritz18]

How do you judge each hands, what information do you look for from other players - how accurate are you when you show down?

Your explanation is correct and I totally agree, but when we talk about micro tournaments and especially Cardschat freerolls, the vast majority of players don't care about rules and strategies, they just want to play, they love to see a flop, and they want to play as cheaply as possible, so limping into every hand is the best strategy for them.

So I wouldn't try to change the minds of the Cardschat Geniuses, no matter what you say or do, they will continue to be Geniuses.🧞‍♂️☺️

 

[ztibor72]

I never limp in early position. I don't get in with a bad hand, and I'd rather raise a bigger one with a good hand.

 

[ironduke11]

Limping should only be used in certain scenarios...like anticipation of setting a trap on further streets

 

[armoko]

I do not prefer to limp from early position, only if it's a FT and blinds are too high and everybody playing carefully

 

[TeUnit]

You can sharkscope the early position open limpers and you wont find many winning players.

 

[kunkgreen]

I like to limp from early position to feign dementia and then surprise my opponents with ancient techniques from poker geniuses.
I also like to limp from early position to irritate my opponents and break the dynamics of 'normal' games.
HAHAHA


Well... I really was joking above.

I don't do that but I think it would be a sincere answer from them.
After all, they do it every day and in the same way for years and years... It must really work for them!

 

[RALF_AK]

...it depends on the profile of the players at the table, in poker we cannot generalize actions, we just have to play according to the profile of each opponent.

 

[Leandro6803]

this limping strategy is a losing strategy, we normally see that this type of player is not profitable, it is usually due to a lack of in-depth knowledge about poker, punishing the limp is the best counter strategy

 

[pavel1111111]

Only AA ) and maybe KKs ...maybe i will get a little or bigger fish )

 

[Sparta77]

The problem with 2-7 and 3-7 limps is that with these cards they even win because the flop finds them. I rarely bluff

 

[john_entony]

A lot depends on my opponents. I study the style of players in every tournament and my style of play with monster hands is always different. If we talk about limp in early position, it is suitable against TILT players and aggressive good 3bet callers. Against all other types of players limp in early position is a weak play that does not allow you to take advantage of the hand potential on the board.

 

[martinoni]

Sometimes with strong range yes

 

[Geo90]

With AA KK I sometimes limp in check rais, but it depends on the table whether there are agro players then it makes sense because after that I don't like playing in multiway pot.

 

[dreamer13]

We are not afraid to give our opponents a free card, because in a multi-pot they will use this opportunity very, very rarely. There are a lot of draws and medium-strength hands on the board, and we are playing against 4 opponents, so at least one of them will definitely bet on the flop, thereby falling into our trap. After an open-limp with AA in early position, you should always try to play your hand as quickly as possible.Even poker newbies sooner or later learn that it is better to open raise than to limp. Like everything else in poker, this rule has exceptions. Sometimes circumstances make limping a more attractive option, especially in multiway pots where you can limp behind other players and see a flop cheaply with favorable pot odds.

 

[kaynbergo]

I can only limp if my pocket pair is weak from an earlier position. And it's a shame to throw away, and I won't defend myself for a big bet. But with AA, I'll never limp

 

[choprav]

No when I come into an un-raised pot I always raise.

 

[tagece]

Rarely, it depends on the hand and what is happening in the table.
When in early position, if you don't have a hand you can defend to a raise, there is no reason to play.