Let me clarify further that this concerns no-limit hold'em tournaments. I don't slow-play those big hands before the flop in limit hold'em tournaments or live-action play if I am the first one to take action in the pot. It also depends on the stage of the tournament and my chip count in relation to the blinds. To slow-play, your chip count should be at least 20-25 times the big blind. I normally limp into the pot in the early to middle stages of a tournament if I am the first to act. I would not do this in the latter stages of a tournament, though. It also must be a random act. You should limp sometimes with big hands and raise at other times. This will confuse your competition, because they will never be sure what you have when you limp into the pot. I normally do this from early to middle position and only if I am the first player to act. If someone else acts first, I will raise with those hands. However, if I am in very late position (the button or the cutoff seat), I may limp in with aces if only one or two players have called.

The object of limping in is to set a trap. For example, when you limp in from early position with your aces, someone may raise you. You can then reraise at least four times the amount of that raise or shove in your entire stack. When you shove in your stack, a high percentage of the time no one calls. When you limp in from very late position after one or two players have limped in, you are setting a bigger trap, because more players and more chips are involved. Again, I suggest doing this only with aces. If I had kings or A-K, I would raise if one or two players had already limped in. If more than two players have limped in, I normally raise with the aces rather than limp in. The more players you allow to limp in, the better the chance that you will be beaten.

Once you have limped in from late position with your aces after the one or two earlier limpers, you will often find that a player in the small or big blind will raise all in to steal all of this dead money. He thinks that it's safe to do this because he assumes wrongfully that all of these players have moderate to weak hands. He may make this raise with A-K, A-Q, or even a small pair. He wants you all to assume that he has a very big hand, like aces or kings, in order to raise all of his chips into several players. The other players will probably fold in this situation, so you have now set the big trap. You have sandbagged your victim all in and hopefully will beat him with your pocket rockets. Good luck at your next tournament.