- #1: Don\u2019t make the same mistake of limping weak hands<\/a>
- #2: Squeeze litters of limpers with raises<\/a>
- Squeezing from late position<\/a>
- Squeezing from out of position<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- #3: Don\u2019t pay other poker players off when they get there<\/a>
- Punish limpers by folding, then by raising, then by folding<\/a><\/ul><\/ol>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\n\n
#1: Don\u2019t make the same mistake of limping weak hands<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The most important way to punish limpers: \u201cDon\u2019t make the same mistake they do.\u201d That is, it is a -EV play to limp in middle position with T\u26637\u2663. So if your opponents are doing that, they are losing money. Because poker is a zero-sum game, that money has to go somewhere<\/em>, and some of it will go to you. However, if you limp with T\u26637\u2663, then you are making the identical<\/em> mistake, and you\u2019ve given back the profit that you were going to make from their mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why is limping with T\u26637\u2663, Q\u2666<\/mark>4\u2666<\/mark> and similar hands a -EV play?
<\/p>\n\n\n\n- \n
- There are long odds against these hands hitting any serious value. It\u2019s easy to remember the times they smashed the flop, but you quickly forget the many multiples of times they whiffed completely, or \u2013 worse \u2013 gave you just enough to continue one more street and throw good money after bad.
<\/li>\n\n\n\n - Hitting your miracle two-pair or trips isn\u2019t enough to win a big pot \u2013 somebody has to make a second-best hand. This isn\u2019t video poker.
<\/li>\n\n\n\n - The kinds of hands you want to pay you off when you smash a flop are likely to be raising preflop<\/a>, and denying you the cheap flop you were hoping for. It\u2019s great to have T\u26637\u2663 when the flop comes A\u2665<\/mark>-T\u2660-7\u2666<\/mark> and somebody has A\u2660K\u2663, but that hand is almost always raising preflop, and punishing you for trying to sneak into a flop for cheap.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
Note that your opponents are also<\/em> trying to sneak in with weak hands hoping to smash a flop. Mimicking their strategy means that nobody, except the house, wins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So simply don\u2019t copy the mistake that your opponents make by limping weak hands<\/a>, and you will immediately profit from those mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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#2: Squeeze litters of limpers with raises<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When the opportunity arises, you can print money by \u201csqueezing\u201d litters of limpers. Suppose you\u2019re in a $1\/3 game, three people limp in front of you, and you find K\u2665<\/mark>9\u2665<\/mark> in the cutoff. It\u2019s not a particularly great hand, but it\u2019s good enough for your purposes here. Since there wasn\u2019t a raise in front of you, it\u2019s likely that nobody has a very strong hand. They\u2019re trying to sneak into a flop for cheap, violating Rule #1 above. When you put in a big raise, those limpers are faced with a dilemma. They can either:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n- \n
- Fold, and forfeit the investment they\u2019ve made in the pot and whatever equity they have, or
<\/li>\n\n\n\n - Call, taking a weak hand to the flop out of position against a strong range.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
As you can see, neither option is very appealing to your opponents, which makes it extremely appealing to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, a litter of limpers forming ahead of you is not, ipso facto<\/em>, a license to raise. If you were to raise every time the right conditions arise, your raising range would not be strong enough. While Plan A is, indeed, to win the pot without a flop, you will have to resort to Plan B (playing a flop) frequently enough that your hand must have robust equity in that situation<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Very specifically, you should be squeezing a linear<\/em> range \u2013 raising with the strongest hands<\/a>, and not including any bluffing hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Squeezing from late position<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
For live games, if I\u2019m acting in late position, my formula is 3-4 times the big blind, plus one more for every limper in front of me. So, let\u2019s say you\u2019re playing $2\/$5. There are two limpers in front of you, and you find 5\u26605\u2666<\/mark> in the hijack seat. This is a great squeeze opportunity. 3 x $5 = $15, + (2 x $5) = $25. If you wanted to make it $30 or even $35, I wouldn\u2019t object. The real danger of a big opening raise is that if you get 3-bet, you will frequently have to fold your hand and forfeit your original raise. For instance, if you were to squeeze to $30 with 5\u26605\u2666<\/mark>, and get 3-bet to $100, you would have to fold. However, if 3-bets are rare in your game<\/a> as they are in most low-stakes games, then there\u2019s no penalty for the large open. Now, you almost always get the button and occasionally<\/em> win the pot right there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I say \u201coccasionally\u201d you\u2019ll win the pot immediately. While that might be the most desirable outcome, it\u2019s rare for the entire litter to fold en masse<\/em>. Regardless, two positive things have already happened:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n- \n
- Whichever limpers fold leave their chips behind in the pot. Those chips now subsidize the dollar equity of all remaining players in the pot. Because you often have the best hand, you collect the lion\u2019s share of those extra dollars.
<\/li>\n\n\n\n - If you have constructed your squeezing range well, then you have a hand that will perform well after the flop, and are often last to act. That means that you\u2019ll over-realize your equity going forward.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
So whether you win the pot immediately or not, you have punished the limpers for their mistakes. One outcome might be better than the other, but they are both good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Squeezing from out of position<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re out of position, then the hammer needs to be that much bigger. Let\u2019s say you\u2019re playing $2\/3, there are three limps, the small blind completes, and you find A\u2666<\/mark>J\u2663 in the big blind. It can be tempting to say, \u201cShow me a flop, and hope I hit top pair.\u201d But it will be miserable to navigate the rest of the hand, even if you flop well \u2013 five-way flops are a mess. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So let\u2019s raise. Make it $25. Yes, that\u2019s 8x the big blind. And now that I think about it, $30 or $35 is better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Again, it\u2019s great if everybody folds, but that\u2019s infrequent. Still, we usually thin the field some, and share the folded equity with the others still remaining in the pot. If we pick a strong linear range with which to raise, we will profit handsomely, even out of position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Honestly, it\u2019s taken a while for me to come around to this thinking. For years, when given the chance, I would gladly tap the table with A\u2666<\/mark>J\u2663 in the big blind<\/a>, and hope to hit a flop. My private coach finally got tired of this, and said, \u201cLook, put in a big raise. If you get called, but only continue when you flop top pair or better, you\u2019ll still<\/em> be showing a profit. The only awful outcome is if somebody limp-reraises you. And then, you\u2019ve usually run into KK+ and are happy to fold.\u201d He was right, and I\u2019m making more money because of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I know these raise sizes seem insane, but we would love to end the hand immediately. If raising doesn\u2019t force everyone out of the hand, we want to extract maximum preflop value from the weaker hands that have limped in. People at the table will look at you askance \u2013 \u201cYou know this is a $2\/3 game, right?\u201d Furthermore, many of them will be aware of what you\u2019re doing, but no one person is in a position to do anything about it. What are they going to do \u2013 call $35 with T\u26637\u2663 and hope to out-flop you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes you\u2019ll hear comments about your big raise as everybody folds back around. Such comments are completely inappropriate (nobody should be discussing what\u2019s happening during the hand) but ignore them. It\u2019s like the weather \u2013 they can complain about it, but they can\u2019t really do<\/em> anything about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
- Whichever limpers fold leave their chips behind in the pot. Those chips now subsidize the dollar equity of all remaining players in the pot. Because you often have the best hand, you collect the lion\u2019s share of those extra dollars.
- Fold, and forfeit the investment they\u2019ve made in the pot and whatever equity they have, or
- Squeezing from out of position<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- #2: Squeeze litters of limpers with raises<\/a>