When to limp in MTTs
Dara O'Kearney explains the why behind a limping strategy....before trying to talk you out of doing it entirely.
I've written previously about how to deal with limpers but what about knowing when to limp? There is a time and place to adopt a limping strategy, but if you never limp you won't be making a huge mistake.
The old school view on limping used to be to try and see a cheap flop with a speculative hand while the blinds are deep. If you miss you can get away easily, if you hit a monster you can ramp up the pressure.
We have seen from the solvers that this is backwards. When stacks are deep you want to open with a raise to build a pot. However, as stacks get shallower that is when limping becomes an option.
For example, this a GTO opening range for 30 big blinds in early position:
And this is the range from the same position with 20 big blinds:
Stick to a simple strategy
Solvers limp more at shallower stack depths because it allows them to play more hands. In this example it wants to play a hand like K6s but doesn't want to have to fold it. The way it does that is by limping.
It is possible to play these hands at shallower depths because limping makes it less profitable for your opponents to shove over the top of you. They win less money shoving over a limp than they do an open raise. You also lose less money when you are the limper and you get shoved on, then fold.
In a 20BB pot with antes there might be 4.5 big blinds out there for your opponent to win by shoving over the top of you. Being able to win 22.5% of your stack makes shoving here with a wide range very profitable. By limping we reduce that to 3.5 big blinds, or 17.5% of the effective stacks.
The hands the solver chooses to limp are typically hands that flop quite well, with some big pairs thrown in there to protect the range. The overall 20BB and 30BB ranges are pretty much the same, they are still weighted towards high suited cards because at shallow stack depths you are mainly looking to hit top pair and stack off with it.
Now that we have seen the logic behind limping at shallow stack depths, my advice is actually not to bother. Constructing a limping range can be complicated and for the most part players overfold and under 3-bet, making opening a better option. It may mean you have to play less hands, but that is a small price to play for being able to adopt a simpler strategy.
Dara O'Kearney's new book Endgame Poker Strategy: The ICM Book is out now.
