Limping In Tournaments

We all limp at some time or another in hold’em tournaments. Limping appears weak, because ordinarily the act of calling releases control of the hand to somebody else at the table. But is limping a viable strategy when all of the poker advice you hear about online always slants to play more aggressive?

Surely, as in all poker situations the answer is of course “it depends”. There is absolutely, a reason to limp in definite situations. The problem with limping however, is that inexperienced players tend to do it too much, and from the wrong position. Consistent limping in early position in online poker tournament is a recipe for a poor strategy…

Early Position Limping in Tournaments

There are 2 important factors that make early position limping pricey. Players that still have to act can throw a big surprise by re-raising. Often you will be forced to call a raise because you have committed yourself to a proper mathematical call, with a moderate strength hand. In the early stages of the tournament you should not really be paying too much attention to mathematically correct calls. It is much more strategic to maintain your stack and wait for more lucrative situations.

Limp with weak hands

Don’t forget that limping with weak hands will also result in the wide majority of flops not helping your hand whatsoever. This gives way to your opponents taking control of the hand, you getting caught in an overpriced bluffing game, or are you having to involve yourself in a challenging decision.

Now you can use limping to your advantage however, and this is nearly always done in position or in an effort to set a trap. Strong players in fact, will use this as a maneuver with the purpose of out-playing their opponents after the flop, while utilizing pot control and profiling. Still however, if your normal starting chips are only fifteen hundred you’ll won’t have much room for error, so strategically, limping is best in order to keep your costs low.

Low blind limping can often be ascribed to players holding lower pairs, suited connectors or weak aces. So if you’re in late position and you have something like JJ or better, or even AK and AQ, you should be attempting to take control of the pot by raising pre-flop. Normally the majority of times a continuation bet is going to take the pot down for you.