Limping in Preflop to Set a Trap in Poker

LIMP

adj limp [limp] - lacking stiffness or strength; a drooping limp lettuce, a limp excuse, a limp penis requiring Viagra.

v - to walk in an uneven manner (usually because one has hurt one's foot or leg); He twisted his ankle and came limping home.

n - the act of limping; He walks with a limp.

poker lingo - To enter into a hand without raising.

Limping in is when a player comes into a pot preflop by just calling the amount of the big blind, and not raising any amount before the flop.

Now this is slightly different than calling after someone else has raised. When this happens, it is typically referred to as smooth-calling, or a flat-call.

For me, the strategy of limping in is an art form. I vary my style pretty widely when I play, so I can't say that any one way is the right or the wrong way to do it. but I can say that when done right and when the hands are played well, limping in certain situations can be very profitable.

For example, limping in with big hands such as AK or QQ can wreak havoc on your opponents chipstack and often save your own stack from unnecessary downswings. Allow me to illustrate.

Many people like to raise with AK. Hell, most people do. But for the sake of this discussion, I'm going to limp in with it all over the place. (Interestingly, I am actually playing poker online right now as I write this. I was just dealt AK and decided to limp in with it as there was already a player who limped in UTG [under the gun... the seat directly to the left of the Big Blind.] I flopped an Ace and took down a nice little cash pot)

Back to my original point. Let's say that I am in early position with AK. If I limp in and the flop comes all low cards, I can simply check and get away from the hand fo very cheap when someone else bets. If i hit an Ace or a King on the flop, I can fire off bets, check & call, or even check-raise, depending on what I think will get me the most chips.

If on the other hand I had raised in that same exact situation, what would I have done if I had missed the flop? Bet again, possibly just feeding even more chips into a pot I'm probably going to lose? Or check now after I have already raised and then most likely get bet right off of the pot, thereby forfeiting all of the money I had put into the pot preflop.

Let's look at a different scenario.

This time I have AK from the button, and I raise. If I hit a pair on the flop, everyone will assume that I have... read the full article on limping in preflop to set a trap in poker.