Sunday, October 10, 2004
When someone limps in front of you
This is a relatively common scenario on the Internet. 100-200 blinds, you have say 900 with three players behind you, your hand is good enough to play. You're getting ready to slide all-in when someone with 1200 calls in front of you. Now what do you do ?
Unfortunately this cuts down your options. This is one area where observation pays off. Have you seen this player limp before ? What did he do when he was raised ? What kind of hands has he shown after a limp ? Whatever the answers, you are going to have to tighten up. Ace-small is now vulnerable, and should usually be passed - I'd be looking for something like A9, KJ or better given my experience on the Internet to date.
IMO the limp is a horrible play. What's he going to do if reraised ? If he's going to call anyway, then there's no question that raising himself is better. If he's going to pass, then he's just pissing away 20% of his stack, while giving the blinds a cheap/free flop in the event that a raise would have taken it down. These players hurt themselves much more than anyone else, but having one or more regular limpers in front of you can seriously interfere with your strategy. I find this is more common at certain times of the day (most games online have different passive/aggressive tendencies at different times of day) so I tend not to play so much at these times. It's all about game selection once again.
Unfortunately this cuts down your options. This is one area where observation pays off. Have you seen this player limp before ? What did he do when he was raised ? What kind of hands has he shown after a limp ? Whatever the answers, you are going to have to tighten up. Ace-small is now vulnerable, and should usually be passed - I'd be looking for something like A9, KJ or better given my experience on the Internet to date.
IMO the limp is a horrible play. What's he going to do if reraised ? If he's going to call anyway, then there's no question that raising himself is better. If he's going to pass, then he's just pissing away 20% of his stack, while giving the blinds a cheap/free flop in the event that a raise would have taken it down. These players hurt themselves much more than anyone else, but having one or more regular limpers in front of you can seriously interfere with your strategy. I find this is more common at certain times of the day (most games online have different passive/aggressive tendencies at different times of day) so I tend not to play so much at these times. It's all about game selection once again.
# posted by Andy_Ward @ 1:22 PM 
