OK, one more post on my first day here to generate some discussion. I don't think very much of limping. Way too many players do it in low stakes games, both in limit and no limit, and most of those limps have negative expected value. Even when they crush the flop, they don't get paid off enough to pay for all the limps that had to be folded post-flop.
At the same time, in live poker, you play 35 hands an hour which means at a full table, on average, you will have the winning hand on about 4 hands an hour (were everyone to play every hand). Online, you might have the winning hand 8 hands an hour. Thus, it's natural to want to limp-- we're human beings and we don't want to fold over and over again. Plus, limping can loosen your table image to a certain extent, which might buy you a bit more value on your big hands.
So if I am going to limp at all (and I don't limp much), here are the big considerations:
1. What position I am in. I hate early position limping. If you have a hand that is worth playing at all from early or even middle position, it is worth raising. And if it isn't worth raising, it isn't worth playing. Yes, I know that sometimes you fold that King-2 of diamonds from under the gun, the board comes up 3 diamonds, and you would have had the second nut flush. But you still would be out of position, still would be vulnerable to anyone who has an ace of diamonds or a draw for a boat, and still won't have any information (beyond generic limping and calling ranges) on what the other players at the table have. The only reason I could possibly imagine limping in early position would be as a change-up play after your image was established, just to confuse the table as to what you might have. And only if you are pretty sure you aren't going to get raised (see below).
2. Will I get raised? At some of the live games I play at, nobody raises anything, or maybe the raising range is AA, KK, and AK. If you are on the button with two players like that in the blinds, then maybe you can consider limping in if the other factors discussed herein call for a possible limp. But if there's someone acting after you whose raising range from a blind is 22+, AKs-45s, AQs-64s, AJs-J8s, AKo-87o, AQo-T8o, AJo, JTo, T9o, well, um, no. And, of course, if you are thinking of limping in from late position but NOT on the button, factor in the probable wider raising ranges of the players who are in stronger positions than you are.
3. How many other players have limped? The entire theory behind limping (I mean properly done limping, not gamblers who just want to see the flop every time) is that you can make a small investment and take down a big pot. The greater number of players that have limped in, the bigger your pot odds on your limp. Now, of course, many of those players might have better starting hands than you do. But by definition, you are trying to catch some luck (as you would raise your best hands, especially in position when you might consider a limp). So you'd much rather have the big pot than a single opponent, even if you might have a better mathematical chance of winning the hand.
4. Related to the number of players that limped-- what are their stack sizes? If you do get that crushing good hand, how likely are you to get paid off. I mentioned in another post that a popular game in live casinos in California is $40 max-buy in $1/$2 no limit. Well, at many of those tables, you have people limping in for $2 with a chip stack of $30 or so. It puts a real damper on the festivities when your $2 gamble pays off but the only guy to call you down has a micro-stack.
5. What is your hand? Notice I placed this 5th. And the reason is because the mistake I think many limpers make is starting with the fact that they have an apparently playable hand and ignoring all the warning signs against limping. Yes, I know that suited connectors can be very playable hands in multi-way pots. Everyone knows that. But most of the time, your suited connectors miss. Miss the straight, miss the flush, miss trips, and miss 2 pair. Maybe you end up with a pair of sixes on a K-J-6 rainbow board with a 7 kicker. And since someone limped in with King-6, they have you dominated. Plus, since you limped in under the gun, they have position on you too. Now you have to figure out whether to c-bet and put more money into the pot. Heck, even if the flop comes up K-7-6, you are sitting there worried about the other guy who limped in with 4-5 or 8-9 or even King-7. And, again, you are out of position.
Similarly, all those limpers (and their stack sizes) are what can make set-mining with your pocket deuces worthwhile. You need to get paid off at about 7-1 odds on your 1BB limp to make your set-mining profitable (excluding the small number of times that the deuces hold up because nobody hits a pair). It's much easier to build the pot up to that level when you have lots of limpers in the hand.
So yes, you want to have a hand that is potentially playable after the flop. But first you want to make sure the other favorable conditions for a limp are present. Make sure you are in late position. Make sure you aren't going to be raised. Make sure there's plenty of other limpers with healthy stacks. And then, look down at your cards and consider a limp with your potentially playable hand.
And two more things. If they do raise you from the blinds, be prepared to get the heck out of the hand. And if it looks like you are beat on the flop and don't have draws with good pot odds or implied odds, get out then. Limping is only a decent gamble when it's costing you 1BB. When it's costing you two or three, you've just cut your payoff odds in half or two-thirds. When it's costing you four or five, the odds get really bleak even against big stacks (which you may not even be able to get to pay off even if you make your hand). Something to think about when the whole table in a no limit game calls a 3.5xBB raise to make it a family pot.
What do you all think?
