In small-stakes no-limit hold’em games, you will inevitably find yourself playing against limpers on a regular basis.
When that's the case, you will need to figure out what their limping range looks like. Some people think their opponent is going to play all hands, but that's obviously not true because a lot of people simply raise with their best hands.
Don’t be trapped
Some players, however, will limp with some of their best hands trying to trap you. Against these types of players, be very careful when raising them; they're going to have some very premium hands in their range some chunk of the time.
That said, most people who limp are limping with hands they think aren't quite good enough to raise, or with hands they just want to see a cheap flop with and see what develops from there.
Against hand ranges like that, you want to raise with a generally strong linear range. Hands such as good, strong Broadway hands, good high cards, maybe even middle pairs, and suited aces.
All those hands are pretty good to raise with because when your opponent limps and then calls your raise, they're going to have a whole lot of hands that you're dominating.
Now, if they limp and then reraise you, alarm bells should be ringing. This is a spot where you will want to raise with a good, strong linear range. And then have them call you with a lot of hands that you're doing very well against and going to be ahead of.
If somebody limps for one big blind, you can make it something like four or five big blinds against them. They're either going to fold or call. When you do go to the flop, you’ll want to continuation bet a decent amount of the time unless the flop is very good for their range.
Opponent’s limp calling ranges
Take, for example, if you know your particular opponent likes to limp in and then call your raises with stuff like middle suited connectors. So, when the flop comes with all middle cards on the flop, you’ll need to be far more careful compared to if it comes with high cards.
My advice is always to consider how each particular flop interacts with your specific opponents' limp and then calling range.
If your opponents are especially weak, such as when there are six limpers, and you think they all have nonsense, feel free to raise big. You can then blast them to something like 10 or 12 blinds and pick up that free money.
If one player calls, know that they're going to have a weak range, and you'll be able to bluff them out of the pot much of the time.
Don't be afraid to attack the limpers
That said, don't just mindlessly load the money in like you’ll see some people do at the tables. Because then your opponents are going to figure you out, they’ll start trapping you, and then you're just going to be torching your money.
Jonathan Little is a former WPT Player of the Year and owner of PokerCoaching.com. You can follow Jonathan on X/Twitter and Instagram.
