How to play AA or KK - Limping from early position good or not?

[mendiolacubicle]

Perhaps when the table is aggressive you can do this then shove from a raise and expect to be called 😊

 

[Ducbim]

Limping with Aces and Kings in EP is a good strategy to disguise your hands. It works perfectly if your opponents are aggressive and like to raise to build big pot. You can come over the top and reraise them.
However you should always be cautious if there are too many players involve in at limp pot. If an Ace come on the flop, it's likely that you have to muck your Kings. Aces are tougher to get away when you have overpair. Personally I don't like being raised by a solid guy on mini multiway flop, he may have at least two pairs.
Overall it's a tricky strategy when you know how to mix it up and just limp with some small pairs or suit connectors also. Don't let your opponents notice you only limp with Aces or Kings.

 

[Remko]

Wouldn't limping in early position still indicate you have a strong hand anyway, since you're willing to play it with a lot of people left to act behind you? And if so, wouldn't it encourage more draw-heavy hands to limp, hoping to outflop you, leaving you with no idea what you are up against and possibly committed to a hand you shouldn't be playing post-flop?

 

[Blue_Fossil]

In a $1K GTD tournament last night - close to the bubble, UTG limped in with what turned out to be KK. I called with JQs. I flopped top pair and gutshot draw. I bet, which left me pot-committed for all intents and purposes. BB folded and UTG shoves. As I said, I'm committed with top pair and a gutshot draw, so I call. He shows his Kings. Turn gives me a flush draw. River is another J - so I win, nearly double up and UTG is eliminated.

My immediate reaction was how dumb UTG was to limp in and let me play JQs cheaply. But I quickly realized that he was setting a trap for some of the big-stacks at the table. There were a couple of big-stacks that were consistently raising and re-raising preflop. UTG surely thought he'd get raised, and he would then shove preflop - a sound strategy in this case, IMO. Instead, he trapped me, and I got lucky.

The moral of the story is UTG picked a reasonable situation for limping preflop with KK, given the texture of the table from his point of view. He thought he'd get raised and could then shove. If that is a reasonable expectation, it's okay to limp preflop with KK (or AA). Otherwise, you are generally asking for trouble by slow-playing AA or KK preflop.

 

[benspocket]

well I kinda see who is the chip leader and who the player is and mainly how much the blinds are remember there are always someone that might just wait and limp in and after u finially bet and another limper pushes u all in and the aa or kk losses the hand seen it to many time

 

[lfc]

Wouldn't limping in early position still indicate you have a strong hand anyway, since you're willing to play it with a lot of people left to act behind you? And if so, wouldn't it encourage more draw-heavy hands to limp, hoping to outflop you, leaving you with no idea what you are up against and possibly committed to a hand you shouldn't be playing post-flop?

It would depend heavily on the table and on your play before that. If you have limped before with small pp or connectors or whatever there would not be much indication that you are holding the big guns. These days people limp all the time and there have always been people willing to punish limping as well. If it is an aggressive table with more than a few loose players then why not ? Having said all that I too believe that it should be done very very rarely and mainly when super short stack and need to take a chance to triple up or better ...

 

[NoWuckingFurries]

This can be a lot of fun at microstakes once in a blue moon, just to catch out the very few players that are closely analysing your playing style, but as various people have mentioned - it is dangerous. I do it very occasionally if I am the big stack, just for the shizzle.

 

[Four Dogs]

When I play poker tournaments MTT multitabling sometimes limp strong hands like Kings or Aces from early position, if no one limps before me in the pot is that "option" good or not?

Not. People love to see flops for cheap. All you'll most likely do is see a cascade of overlimps and you'll have no idea where you stand on the flop. Just raise and hope that someone comes along or better yet, 3 bets.

 

[GWU73]

It can be a good move vs the right players as long as you can fold 1 pair when things go wrong.

 

[Poker Orifice]

I agree with cactuscat. The only way this is a good idea from early is if you know someone from late position will try to steal raise you and the other limper out of the pot. Then you can re raise.

this ^ (as always 'it depends'... it is player dependent, situationally dependent (ie. stack sizes, stage of tourney, etc. etc.)

Also, if you're planning on LRRAI (or Limp re-raise) from EP with a monster pair AA, KK, you'd need to be balancing this with other hands (& most don't).
LRRAI with the amount of times villain is folding, etc. etc.... meh

I never do it personally
I 'might' limp BvB with a monster but it is super situationally dependent.

 

[mads2206]

It can be a good move vs the right players as long as you can fold 1 pair when things go wrong.

+1

 

[matiusaa]

Most of the times it is a mistake, I would only do it in late stages of a tournament if I have less than 8 bb

 

[jj20002]

if the structure is turbo and full ring with 2 or 3 opponents raising a lot of hands could be a nice move, but if the structure is low speed and reg players then probably you will be called by 2 or 3 limpers (BB, SB and maybe another one), then any flop will be scary because someone could hit 2 pairs or a trip, and if you cbet and nobody have a better hand thanyour they are going to fold even a TP because they will be cautious about your move

 

[kape]

If U really know, that somebody will raize, limp is very good. However U don`t know that - therefore - no limping.

 

[PokerFunKid]

Depends on the players at the table, if they like raising a lot it can be a sneaky and nice play.

 

[Retina]

In general, I believe that limp aces in any case it is not necessary, since we first did not get to the river and secondly we are very much in danger of stumbling into two small pairs or nut straight or flush

 

[Shumkoolie]

I was reading through this thread, and there were a lot of good responses, some for limping, but most for raising. So here's my take on this.

Obviously, the table dynamics dictate whether or not it should even be a possibility to do this. If it's at a table that is very loose and aggressive, and there's a fairly high expectation somebody is going to raise, then sprinkle a limp in, but as a general rule, that play should be the exception rather than the norm. As others have said, you run the risk of letting others get into the pot for cheap and your chances of being outflopped are so much higher. Remember, it's still JUST one pair.

Raising should be the play the vast majority of the time. You still want to try and narrow down the field to one or two opponents so that you maximize your potential for winning a big stack. Of course, the dream scenario is you have AA, and an opponent has KK and there's a good chance (s)he will be giving your their entire stack.

I'm not sure a shortstacked player, to touch upon one response ITT, should ever limp with Aces. Keep in mind that you're likely going to be called if you shove by somebody who has a pair or a big Ace. Plus, by limping, you are certainly telling the table that you have a big hand, because if you're only putting in 1bb of your remaining 8bb's, the appearance is that you are waiting for the other 7bb's to go in because chips are valuable.

A shortstack is NOT going to limp with suited connectors, or even a small pair hardly EVER!!! It's telegraphing your play.

 

[Sil3ntness]

I limped with pocket aces (level 1 /w no antes) UTG during a MTT recently. I only did it because I knew I was playing with a bunch of LAG tards that shove any two cards. Lo & behold someone shoved after me. So instantly snap called and triple / quadrupled up. Can't remember, but it was at least 3 others that had shoved after my limp in.

Now obviously if I was playing with a solid group of tight players I wouldn't limp, but again it depends on the table dynamics. If others will hang themselves, just trap them. If they're playing smart tight solid poker you gotta respectfully raise to keep the speculative hands out of the pot.

 

[TheGodson]

Limping with AA or KK in EP can be very profitable in certain situations. It isn't how rare you do it. I believe some people think "hey, I haven't limped with AA or KK in awhile so I'll do it now just to change up my game." This thinking is wrong IMO especially if you are multi-tabling and not paying close attention to your tables.

It isn't a frequency thing as much as an exploit versus certain types of opponents that love to punish limpers.

Most of the people you play in a tourney you probably haven't played before so there is no reason to get fancy unless you have a read. Versus a regular you might be able to do this to "mix up your play" so to speak.

I'd like to add that it is better to slowplay KK than AA. AA blocks a lot of hands that will give you action. KK does too, but not nearly as many as AA. I'd like to hear whether other people agree with me on this or not.

One ideal situation to limp KK or AA in a tourney, is when there are two players in the CO and BU that are in a grudging personal war. You limp, the CO opens wide, and the Button 3-bets slightly tighter, but still wide. You can then evaluate whether flatting is better or raising.

 

[or3o1990]

I'll say I don't think it's ever good to limp KK. The last thing you want is to induce a string of limper and have an ace flop. One thing I heard awhile back is this. If you decide limp a hand, be ready to give up if the flop is unfavorable.

 

[erlanditas]

Never do it. I won't even limp from the button with AA or KK and risk the blinds outflopping me.

Most of professional players do this strategy to get more value

 

[erlanditas]

And this strategy worths better in tournament which just begins, to double up from raise, then you can 3Bet him for good value in pot

 

[digomjo]

I do it only when I have less than 10CG

 

[spookah123]

I like open limping aces or kings when there are a lot of short stacks to act behind that might fold to an EP raise but will shove lighter viewing the limp as dead money.

 

[NoWuckingFurries]

I do it only when I have less than 10CG

What is CG?