To Limp or Not to Limp? Arguments for and against limping with aces or kings from early position in no-limit hold'em tournaments

You are playing in a no-limit hold'em (NLH) tournament. You pick up A-A or K-K in early position. Should you open with a raise or limp in?



This has been an ongoing debate with several of my poker-playing friends. They all swear that limping is the superior strategy and that it has served them well. I always preferred to usually come in for a raise, and occasionally vary my play by limping in. However, since I am the lone dissenter, I have begun to reconsider my position. To sort it out, let's examine the arguments for each.



Please note that in my arguments, I recommend limping only if it creates the opportunity to reraise preflop. Stubbornly, I refuse to believe that limping with aces or kings can be correct when it allows the big blind to see the flop for free. I simply believe that too much money is lost by players (including myself) who allow an opponent to cheaply outflop them. They cannot get away from their big pocket pair, even when the post-flop action dictates that it might no longer be any good.



Arguments for Limping

1. If one of the players to your left is a habitual preflop raiser, you should limp in, hoping to be able to reraise. You are looking to take advantage of his aggressiveness, since overly aggressive players see any limp as a form of weakness.



On the other hand, timid players see someone limp in from early position and immediately worry that he has A-A or K-K.The correct perception lies somewhere in the middle.A preflop limp usually signals weakness, but sometimes players limp in with big hands, and you should keep that possibility somewhere in the back of your mind. However, aggressive players don't even bother with that possibility. They assume that they are going to run over the table, and anyone who limps in preflop is fair game.



So, when you limp/reraise, your purpose is twofold. You want to trap him in that particular hand, and you want to keep him in line in future pots (that is, if you don't bust him right then and there). The last thing you want is an overly aggressive player to your left causing you to make tough decisions with your semistrong hands throughout the tournament. A simple limp/reraise usually causes those players to start behaving.



2. If you have a tell that someone behind you has looked at his hand and likes it, chances are that he is going to raise. Thus, you should limp in and then look to reraise. This is an extreme example, but I fondly remember a $500 buy-in NLH tournament from a few years back. I picked up A-A in early position and was prepared to raise. But then, the short-stacked player to my left went all in out of turn! He supposedly didn't know that I still had cards. I actually think that he was trying to put a move on me. He saw that I was gearing up to raise, and he wanted me out so that he could push in his short stack.



So, what did I do? I meekly threw in the money to call the big blind, acting like I had no clue what was going on. In fact, a player across the table from me said, "Kid, you knew he was going all in, so why would you waste the money to call?" I kept a straight face, but inside, I was laughing a little. I knew that he would soon be putting his foot in his mouth. After the player to my left went all in, a late-position player called and the big blind called. Then, I went all in over the top of both of them. The late-position player folded, while the big blind called with pocket eights. My aces held up, and that hand was a major reason why I reached the final table. If I originally had raised instead of limped,I don't think I would have gotten a dime out of the big blind. Instead, I got his entire stack.



3. Finally, I think it makes sense to limp in with aces or kings if you are in the very early stages of a tournament. It is your way of testing the waters. You don't know your competition, so you're not sure how aggressive they are, but now you'll find out. It might turn out that they are passive, and then maybe no one will raise. That's the calculated risk you are taking. You might be giving someone, especially the blinds, a chance to outflop you.



On the other hand, just as you don't know your opponents, they don't know you, either. They might mistakenly assume that you are a weak player who is limping in with a weak hand. That might cause them to test the waters with a preflop raise, to see how you react. I guarantee you, they will be caught off guard when you reraise. Either they will call with a worse hand, in which case you are in great shape, or they will fold without getting to see what you had, and they will be left wondering if they got outplayed. Either way, you will have set yourself up beautifully for your remaining time at that table.



Arguments Against Limping
1. If you have a passive table, there's not much chance that the action will be raised behind you preflop. Therefore, you should raise with your big pocket pairs, rather than give the blinds a free chance to beat you. You still might get action, depending on whether the table is tight-passive or loose-passive, but either way, you want to take the initiative with big hands against passive players. They aren't going to bet your hand for you.



2. Earlier, I said that I could see limping in with big pairs in the early stages of tournaments. Conversely, I don't think limping in with A-A or K-K in the later stages can be a good strategy. It is simply too obvious, too transparent. Presumably, you have been playing strong poker to get to the late stages, and thus you have not limped in often. You have typically been either raising or folding. So, now when you limp in, it will stand out unmistakably, and opponents will probably give you credit for the big pair that you have. Instead, you must raise, as you have been doing with your other strong hands. That is your best chance of getting action from a worse hand.



A Final Consideration

Your skill level after the flop should play a big part in choosing your preflop strategy. Be honest with yourself. Are you confident in your hand-reading skills, such that you usually know what your opponents have? In that case, you can limp in with A-A or K-K more often, because even if the action doesn't get raised preflop, your post-flop abilities will be put to good use. More often than not, you'll be able to extract money from your opponents when you have the best hand, and lay down your pair when you're beat.



On the other hand, if you are not confident in yourpost-flop play, you really don't want to limp as often. When there is no preflop raise, you might get stuck in a guessing game after the flop. When your opponent bets, does he have a draw? A pair? Something better? Raising preflop helps you avoid those tough situations.

There is nothing wrong with admitting that yourpost-flop play needs improvement. I have no problem saying that I fit that description. To some extent, that is why I've always leaned toward raising preflop, and occasionally limping in with my big pairs. Maybe now, I will start limping in a little more often. However, I don't think there will ever come a time when I'll always do one or the other. I will always want to vary my play in order to avoid predictability, no matter which strategy I prefer.

You can find more of Matt's articles in the Online Poker News, at www.CardPlayer.com.