Z
Zer0-0uts
Rock Star
Silver Level
Right now I am working on hand reading. The first thing I need to do is learn what someone's starting range might be for any given situation on any given day at any given table. There is a lot of variables, but poker is a game of variables.
Some of the many things we need to consider when trying to put an opponent on a range are is the opponent loose or tight, what is their position at the table, what was the action before it got to them, what they did when it got to them, and on and on and on.... Obviously there is so much to consider. I think to put a person on a hand we have to be able to categorize the many possible different kind of hands that might be playing and how they might play with each particular hand. This thread will be the first of a few that I am going to start. Each thread will explore starting hands and how someone might approach entering a pot with them. I am basically trying to get an ideas from everyone. This isn’t about what you or I should enter a pot with pre flop, but what the others at the table are entering with.
In this first thread I want to talk about the hands people tend to limp in with. I want to talk about the hands that people tend to limp in with and why they might do so with each individual hand. First let me get into the meat and potatoes of this thread by looking at the ranges I have already thought of. Now the following ranges are by no means "All the Ranges." They are just what I thought of right off hand. Let's get into this...
Common Limp Range Hands
The first group of hands that people limp with, I will call Common Limp range hands. The hands that fit into this category are the hands that people are limping in with the most. This is not to say that a skilled, deceptive player is not going to switch things up on you to keep you guessing by limping sometimes and raising others. They will. This is just to say that the majority of low stakes poker players are not that complex and they tend to display patterns to their games. You can exploit their betting patterns and this just happens to be one of those patterns. These are the hands that I have found people most commonly limp with.
Suited Connectors
The first thing I think of when someone limps in is they might be holding suited connectors. The reason for this should be fairly obvious. Suited connectors are not by any means a powerhouse hand before the flop, but they have a huge potential if the poker gods are smiling upon you during the flop. People usually do not want to get too much money invested pre flop with suited connectors because most of the times they will be worthless after the flop. People like to limp with suited connectors.
Broadway Off Suit When I say Broadway cards I am speaking of Face cards, and usually they will be off suit when they are limped in to the pot. There is a bit more value in suited Broadway so people tend to raise more with suited Broadway than with off suit. That is not to say that people won’t limp in with Broadway suited, they will.
Small Pocket Pairs
This is also a hand that has some potential, but they do not hold much value on their own for the same reasons that suited connectors do not hold much value pre flop. People love to limp into a pot with baby pairs trying to flop a nicely disguised set.
Ace Rag
Ah yes the good ol' Ace Rag. I do not condone limping in with ace rag. I do not condone raises with ace rag. In fact I will not play ace rag unless there is some sort of strangeness going on that justifies doing so on a rare occasion. Let's face it though people do limp in with ace rag a lot more than they should. Because of this I believe Ace Rag should be thrown in with the commonly limped hand ranges.
Playable Trash Hands
When I say playable trash hands I am generally talking about hands that, although might show a profit on occasion in the right situation they, tend to be more trouble than they are worth. None the less people play them, and quite often too. Playable trash hands will include hands like K10, K9, Q10, Q9, J9. Lets face it people play the shit out of these hands, and if I didn't include them in this category I would be missing a large group of staring hand ranges that people limp in with.
SuitedOne Gappers
I am not going to spend that much time writing about these cards because they are pretty much just like the suited connectors that I already mentioned with the exception that they are harder to make a hand with post flop than their bigger brother suited connectors. Suited one gap hands are more deceptive than suited connectors when they do connect. People do limp in with them enough to mention them here.
Less Common Limping Hand Ranges
The next group of hands that you will see people limping in with are hands that a lot of people limp in with a lot of times, but there are also many people who will raise with these hands a lot of times. Of course there are a lot of people who will change things up and limp an equal amount of times as the raise with these hands. These hands are hands that tend to have more pre flop value than the most common limping range cards, but they can be scary to raise with pre flop because sometimes there are over cards on the board after the flop, or sometimes the hands in this category do not connect with the board after the flop, or for whatever reason they just tend to cause some problems for people after the flop. As I said though these cards do carry some weight, they do win at the showdown quite a bit so you will see people bringing these cards a good amount of the time, but quite a few people still love to limp with these cards.
Ace Suited
People love to limp with this hand. They love to limp so much that I almost put them in the most common category. I am putting them on the top of the less common category though because they are also raised with a lot just because someone has an Ace in their hand.
Medium Pairs
These include cards like 7s on up to Queens for some, or maybe only up to Jacks, or who knows what each individual considers a medium pair to be, but you get the idea. A medium pair is a hand that could end up being top pair on the flop, but there very well can be one, two, or even three over cards on the board after the flop. There are many situations where the right thing to do with these cards pre flop is to raise. There are plenty of situations and reasons people might also choose to limp in with hands like these.
Ace Boardway Little
Ace Broadway little are the hands A10 and Ace Jack. A good majority of the time you will see people raising with these starting hands pre flop, but a good majority of people limp with these hands pre flop too. That is why I chose to put them at the end of the less common limping hands category.
Hands That Are Usually Raised With But Sometimes Limped With
Ah yes, last but not least. These are the hands that the majority of people will raise with the majority of the time. Sometimes people like to limp in with these hands for added deception and to trap unsuspecting opponents. These are your AA, KK, AK and AQ hands. People do not usually limp with these hands, but sometimes someone will limp right in setting a trap and then BOOM! the next thing you know the trap is sprung.
This is what I have come up with as my general guide when I see a person limp into a pot. I run all these hands through as their possible staring hand, and then when the flop comes I watch to see what the limper does and what the texture of the flop is. Then I use this information to rule out some of the possibilities. I do the same on each subsequent street and then I try to make my best guess as to what someone is holding and I make my decision as to if I should raise, call or fold based on all the information I have, and what I think they might hold.
What do you think? Have I missed any of the more common limping hands? Should I change the order of the hands, or change any of the hands into diffent categories?
Some of the many things we need to consider when trying to put an opponent on a range are is the opponent loose or tight, what is their position at the table, what was the action before it got to them, what they did when it got to them, and on and on and on.... Obviously there is so much to consider. I think to put a person on a hand we have to be able to categorize the many possible different kind of hands that might be playing and how they might play with each particular hand. This thread will be the first of a few that I am going to start. Each thread will explore starting hands and how someone might approach entering a pot with them. I am basically trying to get an ideas from everyone. This isn’t about what you or I should enter a pot with pre flop, but what the others at the table are entering with.
In this first thread I want to talk about the hands people tend to limp in with. I want to talk about the hands that people tend to limp in with and why they might do so with each individual hand. First let me get into the meat and potatoes of this thread by looking at the ranges I have already thought of. Now the following ranges are by no means "All the Ranges." They are just what I thought of right off hand. Let's get into this...
Common Limp Range Hands
The first group of hands that people limp with, I will call Common Limp range hands. The hands that fit into this category are the hands that people are limping in with the most. This is not to say that a skilled, deceptive player is not going to switch things up on you to keep you guessing by limping sometimes and raising others. They will. This is just to say that the majority of low stakes poker players are not that complex and they tend to display patterns to their games. You can exploit their betting patterns and this just happens to be one of those patterns. These are the hands that I have found people most commonly limp with.
Suited Connectors
The first thing I think of when someone limps in is they might be holding suited connectors. The reason for this should be fairly obvious. Suited connectors are not by any means a powerhouse hand before the flop, but they have a huge potential if the poker gods are smiling upon you during the flop. People usually do not want to get too much money invested pre flop with suited connectors because most of the times they will be worthless after the flop. People like to limp with suited connectors.
Broadway Off Suit When I say Broadway cards I am speaking of Face cards, and usually they will be off suit when they are limped in to the pot. There is a bit more value in suited Broadway so people tend to raise more with suited Broadway than with off suit. That is not to say that people won’t limp in with Broadway suited, they will.
Small Pocket Pairs
This is also a hand that has some potential, but they do not hold much value on their own for the same reasons that suited connectors do not hold much value pre flop. People love to limp into a pot with baby pairs trying to flop a nicely disguised set.
Ace Rag
Ah yes the good ol' Ace Rag. I do not condone limping in with ace rag. I do not condone raises with ace rag. In fact I will not play ace rag unless there is some sort of strangeness going on that justifies doing so on a rare occasion. Let's face it though people do limp in with ace rag a lot more than they should. Because of this I believe Ace Rag should be thrown in with the commonly limped hand ranges.
Playable Trash Hands
When I say playable trash hands I am generally talking about hands that, although might show a profit on occasion in the right situation they, tend to be more trouble than they are worth. None the less people play them, and quite often too. Playable trash hands will include hands like K10, K9, Q10, Q9, J9. Lets face it people play the shit out of these hands, and if I didn't include them in this category I would be missing a large group of staring hand ranges that people limp in with.
SuitedOne Gappers
I am not going to spend that much time writing about these cards because they are pretty much just like the suited connectors that I already mentioned with the exception that they are harder to make a hand with post flop than their bigger brother suited connectors. Suited one gap hands are more deceptive than suited connectors when they do connect. People do limp in with them enough to mention them here.
Less Common Limping Hand Ranges
The next group of hands that you will see people limping in with are hands that a lot of people limp in with a lot of times, but there are also many people who will raise with these hands a lot of times. Of course there are a lot of people who will change things up and limp an equal amount of times as the raise with these hands. These hands are hands that tend to have more pre flop value than the most common limping range cards, but they can be scary to raise with pre flop because sometimes there are over cards on the board after the flop, or sometimes the hands in this category do not connect with the board after the flop, or for whatever reason they just tend to cause some problems for people after the flop. As I said though these cards do carry some weight, they do win at the showdown quite a bit so you will see people bringing these cards a good amount of the time, but quite a few people still love to limp with these cards.
Ace Suited
People love to limp with this hand. They love to limp so much that I almost put them in the most common category. I am putting them on the top of the less common category though because they are also raised with a lot just because someone has an Ace in their hand.
Medium Pairs
These include cards like 7s on up to Queens for some, or maybe only up to Jacks, or who knows what each individual considers a medium pair to be, but you get the idea. A medium pair is a hand that could end up being top pair on the flop, but there very well can be one, two, or even three over cards on the board after the flop. There are many situations where the right thing to do with these cards pre flop is to raise. There are plenty of situations and reasons people might also choose to limp in with hands like these.
Ace Boardway Little
Ace Broadway little are the hands A10 and Ace Jack. A good majority of the time you will see people raising with these starting hands pre flop, but a good majority of people limp with these hands pre flop too. That is why I chose to put them at the end of the less common limping hands category.
Hands That Are Usually Raised With But Sometimes Limped With
Ah yes, last but not least. These are the hands that the majority of people will raise with the majority of the time. Sometimes people like to limp in with these hands for added deception and to trap unsuspecting opponents. These are your AA, KK, AK and AQ hands. People do not usually limp with these hands, but sometimes someone will limp right in setting a trap and then BOOM! the next thing you know the trap is sprung.
This is what I have come up with as my general guide when I see a person limp into a pot. I run all these hands through as their possible staring hand, and then when the flop comes I watch to see what the limper does and what the texture of the flop is. Then I use this information to rule out some of the possibilities. I do the same on each subsequent street and then I try to make my best guess as to what someone is holding and I make my decision as to if I should raise, call or fold based on all the information I have, and what I think they might hold.
What do you think? Have I missed any of the more common limping hands? Should I change the order of the hands, or change any of the hands into diffent categories?
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