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Limping Big Pairs - Part 3Limping Big Pairs - Part 3 - What about limping QQ or AK? I never limp AK - not even heads up. It's only about a 65-35 favorite against a random hand. AK doesn't play well postflop unless it hits. And when it does hit, it's hard to get action from worse hands, so just play push-fold with AK. As for QQ, I wouldn't limp it at a full table although it's close, but I like limping it when I'm first in from the small blind, because most Ace high hands will shove from the big blind and a lot of King-high hands will shove as well, so you're not risking getting outdrawn by many hands that would have folded to a raise. What about on the bubble? Limping big pairs on the bubble is much riskier, since there is no bigger disaster than going broke in 4th place. If you're in second or third chip position on the bubble you should be even more reluctant to do it. But if you have a way bigger stack than any of the players left in the hand, it's often still a good play. Or if you are in a clear 4th place, it's probably a good play against non-regulars. What about trying to avoid getting trapped by others who limp AA or KK? That's where good note-taking comes in handy as well as a HUD like PokerAce or the Pokertraker3 HUD. A HUD (Heads-up Display) shows stats on the other players at the table. If a player limps in front of you, and you have a good hand that you were planning to shove if everyone before you folded, you have to put the limper on a range. If the HUD shows that he plays 37% of his hands and only raises 2% of his hands preflop, then you don't have to worry too much about him having a big pair. Yeah, he would probably limp if he had AA or KK to try to trap, but a 37/2 guy is limping a very wide range of hands. On the other hand, if the limper plays 14% of his hands and raises 13% of his hands preflop, then you should be thinking "DANGER DANGER DANGER!" I played a hand recently where I had 99 in middle position with only about 6BBs left in the early-middle stage of a Super Turbo. I was all set to shove it in until the player on my right open limped. I knew this player well. It had to be AA or KK, so I folded, and the player on my left shoved all-in with QTs and went broke to KK. Knowledge is power. Regarding notetaking, whenever I see a player limp and it turns out not to be with a big hand, I make a note it. This helps me later when I am trying to decide whether or not to shove over him if he limps. I obviously also note it when I see people limping big pairs.
Limping Big Pairs: Part 1
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