These days in full ring games then the average game is tight-aggressive. In fact you can easily define some games as being very tight-aggressive. I think it is the fact that players can get rakeback now and sign up bonuses as well as being able to multi-table that leads to this. So the bottom line is that in loose-passive games and tight-passive games then many hands are profitable in those circumstances. For example hands like small pocket pairs and suited connectors can be limped in early position in full ring if you have passive players and players who are weak enough to pay you off.

However those same hands in tight games suffer from the following scenario. You limp in early position with 3c-3h and it gets folded around to the cut-off who makes it 4.5bb to go. Both of you have 100bb stacks but in loose passive games then it often gets limped by several players and your hand gains in profit making potential because of the increased implied odds. In this hand the button and both blinds fold which is an excellent result for the raiser but not for you.

If they raised with a hand like J-8 that is currently losing to your hand then they still have the initiative and you are almost forced now to hit the flop. If the flop comes something like A-10-5 then you are basically forced to check with your almost nothing hand. Your opponent c-bets and you fold despite having the best hand. These scenarios are all too common which makes limping quite weak. There are increasing numbers of players who are now open raising with hands like these in full ring games.

Firstly the games are tight and so you win the blinds more often. Secondly it often becomes a heads up pot and whether you have position or not then a c-bet often takes the pot down. Thirdly if the pot gets called multi-way then you simply check the flop if you miss but flopping a set will be massively concealed. You could quite easily stack a player on a 10-9-3 flop who had the 10-9 because they felt that they had out flopped a big premium pair.

So this play is better in many ways but if your opponent or one of your opponents three bets you then you can either call or fold depending on the stack sizes and implied odds. It is better to raise and face a three bet as you know that ranges are far narrower for three bets than if you had limped. Players raise limpers on very wide ranges and they are basically forcing you into fit or fold poker. You need to be attuned to what type of game you are in and act accordingly. So in most games up to and including the NL100 levels then your opponents will not be that sophisticated on the whole although they will be solid players for sure on average.

Similar Posts:

Share