Online Texas Holdem

The term “Limping in” is a poker term which means that a player is calling the bare minimum to play. While this can be a good strategy to allow you play many hands, often times you’ll end up bleeding chips by having to fold other players raises. It can be tempting to limp in to see a flop; however there are a few things you need to consider to make it work to its full potential.

Generally, the rule with limping in is that you're more likely to get away with it the later you are in position.

Limping in while under the gun, or first to act in the hand, will more times than not result in someone after you raising or going over the top(all-in). This is typically how many players end up bleeding chips to the point where their only move is all-in. If you limp in at an early position, you should be prepared to have someone raise after you afterward. You can use this fact to play to your advantage if you want to mask a big hand with slow-play.

In most cases however, it is going to be better for you to raise while in early position if you are going to play.

Contrast to early position, while in late position it is often advantageous to play hands you normally wouldn’t play in early position, like low pocket pairs or suited connectors (hole cards of the same suite that can both be used to make a straight). This is especially true if there are many players in the hand as cards like suited connectors tend to win big, if they hit.

Your likelihood of successfully limping into a pot will differ with every table depending on just how aggressive or conservative the other players are. You will have to observe betting patterns at the table to determine just how much limping in you’ll be able to get away with. Some tables will be every hand, others will be no hands. This holds true for both live and online poker.

See Bodog’s poker hand selection page for a list of what’s best played at each position.

Good luck, and I'll see you at the tables.