Originally Posted by Fnord

20bbish deep you should be playing limp poker. At that point you're shoving pre-flop or on the flop.

88+, AJ+, KQ and suited broadways are for the most part your playable range in that game with some addjustments. Probably going to the SnG/MMT forum and reading about pushing ranges would help as well.

Originally Posted by Fnord

Kudos to Bobbo Fitos for leading me down the right path here.

There are a lot of limp pots in live games, so it can be quite a contrast compared to folks who are used to online games where the majority of the player pool brings it in for a raise.

Your general goal in a limp pot should be to bet out and take down the pot or value bet a good hand. Your goal is not to limp, catch a monster and get someone to call you down with a worse hand (this is not how you win a big NLHE pot contrary to what my opponents think.) A lot of rag hands make pretty good second best hands anyway. So you should be betting. Now isn't the time for check raising or trapping with top pair (since it's hard to read hands you will often find yourself trapped when a lot of money is bet on the river.)

A huge factor is how many people saw the binds. After a single limper or two I will often complete my SB intending on leading out on a lot of flops. Any pair, any draw, any gutshot or even air I'm leading out and expecting to take it down. Fail that, it's a great spot to build mistrust on the cheap. I'm not looking to catch anything, that's my opponent's job.

However, after several limpers, I'll usually just fold out of the SB because now I need to make a hand and often I'll run into a better one. Also in massivly multi-way pots it's often correct to fold weak flush draws (without other outs) and non-nut straight draws as too often you'll be drawing light or dead with no money in the pot pre-flop.

One of my favorite live plays is to mix up light raising on the button with over-limping. While raising makes the pot bigger and will thin the field, limping gives you more information about the hands out there and room to make very cheap feeler bets. With a low rake or time charge I like to mix up both when playing my button against weak opponents.

Originally Posted by LawDude

In contrast, if you wait and only limp relatively high suited connectors in position with lots of limpers behind you, you can end up in great situations where you have the better straight, the better flush, the higher pair or 2 pair, etc. And you will be getting much better implied odds on your pre-flop calls. Essentially, by being more selective about your limping, you are making higher expected value plays than your opponents. And that's how to win money in poker.

.

Originally Posted by Fnord

Law, it's not an either this or that decision.

Sure I'll take 98s over 56s any day. But I'm playing both of them.

One of my more profitable hands last night was T2suited!!!!

One limper, I isolated with T2s on the button, SB calls (just sat down), tight BB calls, limper decides that he doesn't want to give me any more action.

$155 or so in the pot

Flop is:


I bet $75

SB: "has he been doing this all night or did he just start?"
BB: "just started" (I love her so much in a non-sexual way right now)

Fold, Fold

I took a nice $100 profit and took the seat to the left of the SB a couple hands later; position raped him for an hour, racked up nearly $4k and called it a night.

Originally Posted by LawDude

In 4 hours of 9-18

Originally Posted by Fnord

Here's your problem

Glad to hear the Commerce 9/18 is still donktastic. I've been getting mixed reviews.