POKER SKILLS: Limping Late with Small Pocket Pairs

Limping In With Small Pocket Pairs (22-88)
by Scott Paterson

This is one of my favourite plays.
You won’t flop your set often, but when you do
you’ll double up a great deal of the time.
A few justifications and considerations are:

Implied odds

The pot will usually not be giving you the right price
to make this play (unless there have been more than
eight limpers in front of you), but if one or more of your
opponents have a considerable amount of chips in front
of them your implied odds are excellent.
You’re an 8:1 underdog to flop a set from paired hole cards,
so technically the pot should be more than eight times
the size of the amount you must call. However, if loose players
that have decent sized stacks have limped in front of you,
or are left to act behind you, the pot will likely end up being
more than eight times the size of the amount you had to call.
Just imagine if two people who must act before you after the flop
have connected! Your chances of taking down a huge pot
are pretty good.

Deceit

The reason this play is so effective is because loose players
won’t see it coming. First, they probably raise with low pockets.
They won’t be expecting you to have a low pocket pair if you
didn’t raise before the flop. Second, they’re loose. Loose players
always overestimate the strength of their hands. If the flop
connected with them in anyway it’s all over but the crying.

Position

Position is an important consideration when making
this play because:

a) If you limp with low pockets in early position and
someone behind you raises, or a small stack moves in
you’re not sure exactly where you stand (do they have
overcards or a higher pocket pair). You might even feel
obligated to call their raise (depending on your stack size
and the pot odds) knowing you’re beat.

b) If a few people call your raise and overcards come
on the flop you must act first, and someone behind you
could have easily connected. In fact, considering they
called your raise before the flop you’re likely beat if there
are face cards on board.

c) After the flop you want to be in late position so that
everyone that has caught a piece bets in front of you.
It’s a great feeling when you flop a set and people in
front of you start betting!

Read the board carefully

Look at the texture of the flop. Could there be a straight
or flush out there? Could there be straight or flush draws
out there (if so watch the turn card carefully) ? Is it possible
that someone limped in front of you with a higher pocket pair,
and now has a higher set?

Slowplaying sets

I wouldn’t advise slowplaying bottom or middle set.
Someone that has a flush draw, straight draw, two pair,
or has even flopped top pair can easily beat you
on the turn or river.