What Does Limp Mean In Poker
What does limp mean in poker? What is the definition of the term ' limp in' as it applies to the game of poker? If somebody calls pre-flop instead of raising or folding, they are said to have 'limped in' to the pot. Poker is a game of limited information. The later you have to act, the more information you get, and therefore you have an advantage over early position. In early position players have to decide whether to call, fold, or raise without having any idea about what cards other players have. To call the minimum amount required in the first round of betting in order to establish or maintain a stake in the pot; to call the blind or the bring in without raising. EXAMPLE: 'I had a decent hand, but I decided just to limp in in order to trap my opponents. An open limp is when the first person entering the pot (except for the blinds) enters with a limp. A limp is just a call (1 big blind). This is mostly considered a weak play because just calling the big blind implies you have a weak hand. When you limp in poker, you are putting the absolute minimum amount of money in the pot pre-flop just so you can stay in a hand. For example, let’s say you’re sitting in early position, under the gun plus one, and you have a small pocket pair in your hand, threes for argument’s sake.
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A limp is an act of placing the minimum bet that is required to stay in a hand. When a player callspreflop instead of folding or raising, that player is said to have limped in. This is true only if nobody has raised yet in front. Depending on how you see the game, a limp might be a good or bad move.
Many pros seem to thinkit’s a wrong move. Yet, there are still many limpers in modern-day poker. So, when is the right time to limp? You can consider this article an all you need to know about limping.
Is there a perfect time to limp? Yes, while limping is usually frowned upon by many pros, there are scenarios where it makes sense to limp. Limping can make sense in cases where you’re expecting action, but your hand is not good enough to call a big bet. Also, you’ll find lots of scenarios where it would make sense to limp with small pocket pairs.
The best poker players always find ways to exploit peculiar scenarios. If you throw entirely off the idea of limping, you may just be missing out on a good opportunity. Important note to make is that in online games, you see almost no limping, while in live games limping is a lot more popular as games play a lot differently. Online you will be multiway postflop a lot less often than in full ring live games, where almost every pot is multiway.
When to Limp
Regardless of what some players may say, there’ll always be a place for limpers in poker. Below are some of the instances where it’s definitely worth limping.
Awkward Stack Size
Awkward stack sizes can give a genuine reason to limp. Let’s say you’re in a $2/$5 game, and you’re facing opponents with a stack size range of around $80 to as much as $1,500. Then some have stack size in $150 to $250 range, and yet others of about $1,000.
In this scenario, you might be open to playing hands like 8♥ 5♥ against a not so good player (let’s call him player B) who has an $800 stack. A problem arises when an opponent with a shorter stack size enters the pot causing your hand to lose its value. This is because although you can make money off player B with your 8♥ 5♥ and big stack size (160bb if we have at least $800), you can’t get much skill advantage if you’re forced to commita largepart of your stackpreflop and on the flop.
The lower the stacks are, the moreimportant the rawequity of your hand is. There is nomaneuvering space for you to exploitopponents that are lessskilled than you!
So, let’s examine a scenario where an opponent limps, and player B limps in Mid position. Let’s say you’re holding 8♥ 5♥ in the cutoff position, the button has a $220 stack, and the small blind has an $80 stack.
If you make a raise in this scenario and either of the players in the aforementioned positions decides to play, there is a high chance you will be in trouble. The blind with a small stack size can decide to re-raise you with an all-in, or the button can call you, thereby forcing you to play your weak hand out of position with a significantly diminished stack size.
Therefore, it will be far better to limp in this scenario while hoping the player with the short stack either folds or limp along. If this short stack player decides to go all-in with his $80, you can simply fold the limp. But, if that’s not the case, you will almost certainly see the flop against player B.
Looking at your upside, limping, in this case, is as smart a choice as raising. Limping is, therefore, a good choice when you’re playing against a set of opponents with awkward stack sizes.
When Expecting Action
The excuse most players give for wanting to see the flop is that they believe if they miss, it is easy to find their way around, but if they hit, it could mean they receive a huge pot. Needless to say that this kind of ideology no longer holds water in the modern game.
Believing you can make a huge pot if you hit is pretty far from the truth. Opponents holding beaten hands aren’t exactly enthusiastic about callingbigriverbets. In many games, it can be quite difficult finding an opponent that’s willing to call $50 or $100 just to see your flush. If your opponents aren’t willing to pay river bets, limping would be a terrible idea.
However, you’re bound to find yourself in tables where you’ll see a good amount of river action. It is in such games that limping can come in handy.
Keep in mind that you should be more willing to see the flop on a cheap with your marginal hands in a game where the odds of claiming a big pot with a strong hand is high. In these games, it makes sense to play more marginal starting hands for a limp, many more than you would typically be willing to in a nittier game. It will also make sense to limp starting hands that you would usually raise in tighter games.
For example, 10♥ 8♥ could be a great hand to bluff with in a tight game. You could decide to raise this starting hand on the button to pave the way for a post-flop bluff. However, it wouldn’t make sense to raise the same hand preflop in a loose game that sees a flurry of action. In this scenario, limping is the more profitable option.
Limping Behind: Small Pocket Pairs
There are many situations where small pocket pairs prove to be excellent for limping behind. If two opponents are limping in from early position while you sit with 55 in the hijack, your best move will be to limp along, especially when you have a deep stack (you can play this hand with a short stack in a tournament).
Your other options in this scenario include a standard-sized raise. If you opt for that, you’re merely bloating a pot with a hand that doesn’t represent much value. If you’re in a table where players limp often and hardly fold to raises, making a standard size raise with the hope that your opponent folds is simply unrealistic.
Also, if you raise a limper with your small pocket pairs, you’re practically asking for your opponent to 3-bet you from later positions. If that’s the case, you’re going to fold more often than not. Therefore, limping in looks like your best bet.
When not to Limp
While there might be good use cases to limp, there are also compelling cases why and when not to limp. Some of them are:
- When opening preflop
- When trying to build the pot
- If you are playing online poker
When Opening Preflop
If you’re the first to act preflop, limping shouldn’t be an option, to be honest. Whether you’re a professional or a beginner, this is one strategy that almost every poker player agrees on. If you’re opening a hand, you should ways look to raise preflop. Not only does this signal that you’re an aggressive player, but it also allows you to go on the offensive early on.
Many scenarios can play out when you raise preflop. One such scene sees everyone fold, and you win the blinds. Another sees your raise getting called while a few other opponents fold. The latter scenario sees you reduce the number of players who will go on to see the flop with you.
Now, while it’s always better to raise preflop when you’re opening, you may also fold if you don’t think your hand is worth the hassle. Basically, you have two other viable options instead of just limping. You can either raise if your hand permits or fold if it doesn’t. Either way, you’ll be making a far better decision than limping preflop.
When You’re Trying to Build a pot
As earlier stated, open limping preflop is not a great strategy. But this is poker, and there are no absolutes. Great players can think their way out of awkward situations. So, if you do decide to open limp preflop, at least don’t do it when you’re trying to build the pot. Once you limp in, you’re making building big pots harder than necessary. I’ll explain it.
Now, let’s say you’re deep stacked with pocket fives in your hands. It’s a well-known fact that many beginner poker players like to open limp with pocket fives. If you do that, here’s what’s going to happen: If the table is 9 handed and you are in a tournament, the antes and blinds will be about 2.5 big blind, with the limp, the pot becomes 3.5 bb.
If an opponent limps behind you, the pot should grow to become 4.5bb. Now, you flop a set, bet 2bb on the flop, and get raised 6bb. The pot should be 12.5bb at about this time.
Now, let’s compare with a scenario where you raised preflop and got called. If you raise preflop to 2bb at least, the pot should be 4.5bb by the time it’s the caller’s turn to act. When he eventually calls, the pot should be 6.5bb. Your flop bet would then be 3bb instead of the 2bb in the previous scenario. Your flop bet is then raised to 9bb.
At this point, the pot is already 18.5 bb compared to 12.5bb in the scenario where you open limped. It’s clear to see that a raise gives you a better opportunity to build a bigger pot than you’d get when you limp.
Online Poker
Remember when you read that book where the author mentioned that you should never limp? That’s because many of those guys are majorly online players who have seen first hand that limping does no good in online poker.
If you’re playing online, it’s best to abandon any hopes of open limping or limping behind. The reason is quite simple: Online players are extremely aggressive, and it just turns out that aggressive play is the best way to punish limpers.
The goal of an open limp is to see the flop cheaply, but if you’re raised, you’re forced to make a raise or fold, your limp becomes worthless. With the eagerness to attack limpers being heightened in online poker, it’s best to avoid it altogether.
Now that you know that raising in online games is a far better move than limping, you might wonder how big should your raise be preflop? Then this detailed article will explain everything to you.
Can you Limp from Small Blind?
The small blind is one position where it’s completely fine to limp along. Obviously, it’s not the best position to be in after the flop, but you can live with that being that you’d often get good pot odds in multiway limped pots.
Therefore, it would be a no-brainer to try and see the flop with your decent hand. Yet, you should avoid completing garbage hands like J6. Playing hands like A4, and Q8 should do the trick.
However, before you limp from the small blind, you should firstdetermine the kind of player sitting on the big blind. Is he a guy who’s likely to raise limpers? If the big blind is super aggressive, then it’s best to avoidlimping from the small blind because you’re likely to be punished.
Also, you’ll need to apply caution to your flop strategy. You’re faced with a scenario where you don’t have much info on your opponent’s next move, so it’s best to play conservatively with rubbish hands unless you flop big.
Why Most Players Condemn Limping
As earlier stated, manypokerplayersavoid limping like a plague. While some only live by the ”thou shall not open-limp preflop” rule, many others avoid limping all together. As this article has proven, limping can come in handy in several scenarios. If that’s the case, why do many players still condemn it? Below are a few explanations as to why.
Weak Passive Players
Depending on how they play, pokerplayers can be groupedaccordingly. Some players are loose-aggressive, while others are tight aggressive. Weak passive is probably one of the worst playing styles in poker.
These are players who aren’t known for playing aggressively. Open limping preflop is one of the traits of weak, passiveplayers, and they’re generally seen as weakopponents. The poker rule of thumb states that players who playaggressively are likely to winmore pots than passive players.
If you adopt a weak, passive playing style on a table where your opponents are stronger, you most likely will be targeted and bullied out of many pots.
Inability to Represent Premium Hands
The general perception of players who open limp is that they have a medium or weak hand. Usually, you’d expect a player is opening with a strong hand to go all guns blazing with a raise. So, a limp would indicate that your hand is not so strong and that you’re trying to enter the pot on a cheap.
If they guess correctly, good players should be able to isolate your limp and continually take pots from you. It’s not possible to represent premium hands legitimately if you limp. It also complicates your postflop strategy.
The odds are Stacked Against you
Limping can put you in an unfavorable position where the odds are against you. When trying to capture a pot, certain factors will determine how strong your chances are. This includes:
- position
- hand strength
- your poker skills
- preflop aggression.
Imagine a scenario where you limp with As 6s. In this scenario, you’re not in the position, you’re not the raiser so no preflop aggression, you may not have the stronger hand, and judging by your open limp, your poker skills are most likely not great. You can now see that the odds of claiming the pot are not in your favor.
Playing ace rag hands as A6 suited and worse can be intimidating to inexperienced poker players. Many players bleed money with such hands. That is why I have a detailed guide on how to play ace rag properly.
So Should you Abandon Limping?
From what has been said so far, you would agree that limping has its moments and shouldn’t be completely tagged as a bad move. Yet, we cannot turn a blind eye to the fact the situations were limping is good are few and far between.
More often than not, aggressive play is what will land you the goods. Most coaches will tell their poker students always to be ready to play aggressively. This is the hallmark of players like Antonio Esfandiari, who have enjoyed considerable success by playing aggressively.
Read this article if you would like to read more about how Antonio and other famous poker pros started in poker.
So, while you should exploit situations where it’s profitable to limp in, you should build your overall strategy around an aggressive style. When in doubt, you can simply follow the guide above to determine when you should or should not limp.
Final Thoughts
In poker, there are no absolutes. What’s obtainable today might see a revamp as the game evolves. This is why it’s never right to say that you should ”never” limp in poker. As we can see from this guide, there are a few scenarios where it would be profitable to limp.
That said, we can all agree that you should always look to play aggressively if you’re hoping to enjoy much success. It’s best for players who are still very much beginners to avoid limping until you’re experienced enough to exploit situations where it’s fine limp.
Whether you open limp or limp behind, you mostly have one way to win, and that’s making the best hand. Bluffing multiway is a recipe for disaster, so in reality, we can only win by having the best hand. On the other hand, you can have two ways to win when you make a raise. You can either get your opponents to fold or make the best hand. With a preflop raise, you indicate you have a strong hand. Continuing this aggression on the flop is often enough for others to believe you have a strong hand. If they don’t believe you, they can start hero calling you, and you will actually have a decent hand more often than not. This is why it’s better off to play aggressively often and limp occasionally.
Related Questions
- What is Overlimping? Overlimping is basically the same thing as limping behind. A player is told to overlimp when he or she limps after another player has limped ahead of him.
- Do all Limpers have Mediocre Hands? More often than not, players who open limp usually have mediocre hands. However, limping from behind might be a different story altogether.
Related links
People often get confused about what a limp reraise means at the poker table.A limp reraise by the way is when somebody limps into the pot preflop (just calls the blind), you raise, and then when it comes back to them, they reraise you. This is an ideal way to trap the maximum amount of money in the pot preflop with a big hand. However, a limp reraise is also a very transparent play to any poker pro, and therefore it is rarely utilized by good players.
Limp reraises usually only happen in small stakes poker games these days (i.e. 'the micros'). And that is because it usually represents a pretty narrow range of extremely strong hands.
The other reason why most good players these days will never limp reraise is because they will never limp into the pot in the first place.
And this is because they know that is statistically proven that it is more profitable to take control of the pot right away preflop by raising.
I provided conclusive evidence of this in my first book by the way by simply showing the data straight from my PokerTracker database which spans millions and millions of hands.
So in this article I am going to cover what type of range a limp reraise usually indicates and how you can play optimal poker against somebody who limp reraises you.
What is a Limp Reraise and What Range of Hands Does it Represent?
So as mentioned, a limp reraise in poker is simply when somebody limps into the pot preflop, you (or somebody else raises), and then the original limper reraises.
The limp reraise is usually done from early position, because then you have the maximum amount of people left to act behind you, who will hopefully raise.
However, you won't really find any good poker players limp reraising these days because it almost always represents such a narrow and transparent range.
Basically what I mean by this, is that when people use the limp reraise play, it is almost always a very strong hand such as: TT+ or AK and AQ.
Very few people do it with any kind of speculative hands like suited connectors or suited aces, and so therefore it is very easy to read what kind of hand that they have.
Which of course is never a good thing at the poker table. Let's dig a bit deeper into why limp reraising is generally a poor option.
Let's look at an example hand that I reviewed yesterday on YouTube:
A Limp Reraise Usually Represents a Very Strong Range
So in this hand above a fishy looking player limps into the pot from early position in a 1 eurocents / 2 eurocents 6max cash game (although there is only 5 players at the table, so technically it is 5-handed).
I say that this is a 'fishy looking' player because he/she already has the HUD stats of a clear recreational player after an 11 hand sample size:
- VPIP = 45
- AF = 1.3
The other key clue to the player type here, as mentioned, is the limp. Good poker players simply just don't limp anymore these days.
So anyways, it is folded to us on the button and we look down at pocket tens, an excellent hand. Therefore, this is a standard spot to isolate the fish by raising.
When the recreational player chooses to limp reraise us though, we have a bit of a dilemma on our hands here.
And this is because when a player at the micro stakes chooses to limp reraise you, they usually have one of these hands:
- AA
- KK
- JJ
- AK
- AQ
However, it must be remembered that we are also up against a recreational player here and they tend to flip out sometimes and do random nonsense with trashy hands.
We are also in position and this hand is slightly deep-stacked as well. So, even though I am a bit hesitant, I can get on board here with the call preflop.
But it is certainly not a clear-cut call and versus certain player types (Nits for example), there is a solid argument for a fold here.
By the way, for much more on how to deal with wild fishy players like this, check out my first book Crushing the Microstakes.
Optimal Poker Strategy Versus a Limp Reraise
So the interesting part about this hand is that we flopped the nuts on a Ten high board. This means that we can basically choose any option available to us (besides fold of course).
When the fishy player bets full pot right into us though, I think we have a clear call here.
And the reason why is that given the range that we set out for him above, calling stands to earn a lot more profit in the long run rather than raising.
And this is because it keeps all his bluffs (such as AQ and AK) in the pot. And we of course don't want these hands to fold because we have them both almost drawing completely dead.
What Does Limps Mean
Also, he is not going to fold any of his value hands (JJ, QQ, KK and AA) no matter what we do, so there is really no point in us raising him here either.It is better to just let him keep shovelling his chips into the pot with very little to no chance at winning the pot.
If we did not flop top set on the flop here, the hand plays totally different by the way. I would seriously consider folding to a full pot bet in fact.
Bad Beats Will Happen (It's Poker)
Now, when the Jack drops on the turn and he shoves we need to beat him in the pot here (snap call). And the reason why is that we still have his range absolutely crushed.
Sure, it is true that if he has pocket jacks, he is now ahead. Or the even more unlikely KQ. But we need to remember that these two hands are only a very small portion of his range here.What Does Limp Mean In Poker Machine
Now in this hand, he does happen to show up with the pocket jacks and we lose the pot and our stack. But at the end of the day, he hit a two outer.And you don't win at poker in the long run by relying on hitting two outers!
So, as I have discussed many times before, in my books, blog posts and YouTube poker videos, we just have to accept bad beats as a part of the game.
They will happen sometimes and there is absolutely nothing that we can do about it. Because the fish almost always have some sort of equity, no matter how small.
And the fact of the matter is that this equity will come through on rare occasions like this one.
The only thing we ever need to ask ourselves is did we play this hand to the best of our ability and deny them the proper odds at every stage of the hand?
In this hand the answer to that question is absolutely, yes, we did. And so the results are basically irrelevant and we can just happily move on to the next hand.
By the way, for much more on how to deal with bad beats, check out guide to handling bad beats that I wrote.
Final Thoughts
So what does a limp reraise usually mean in poker? Well, quite frankly it is often a very strong hand such as AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK or AQ.
And it really doesn't matter what the player type is to be honest. When I see somebody limp reraise it is almost always this extremely narrow range.
This is also why you really only see this play used at the lower stakes by bad players. Because good poker players know better than to be so easily readable at the poker table.
In fact, most good players will never even limp in the first place, because they know that it is a statistically proven fact that raising preflop is more profitable than limping.
They also know that using balanced aggression is the key to an overall winning poker strategy, which is the foundation of everything that I teach.
If you want to know the complete strategy that I have used to crush the micro stakes online for some of the highest winnings in online poker history, make sure you grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.