Quote:
Originally Posted by BroadwaySushy
Can anyone who has read the book enlighten me please? Miller recommends no limping at all and raising with all his starting hands, so I am curious what raise size he advises when raising speculative hands after multiple limpers. Hands such as 65s, 64s, 43s etc (which are included in his starting ranges).
My recollection of the book is that Miller does not recommend any specific amount.
My own recommendation is to raise a sufficient amount to get the field down to no more than two callers, and preferably, down to one caller. If you get any more callers than that, I think it makes it far more difficult to c-bet on the flop. You'll find that there are way too many flops that will hit someone in a field with four or more players. Plus, the pots will be large, forcing you to bet larger as well for an effective c-bet, and thus making the cost of your c-bets when you whiff more expensive. The net result of all of this is that you will be naturally be forced to play fewer pots post-flop if you do not size your pre-flop raises large enough to narrow the field down to you and one or two others at most.
I also have my own personal corollary to the foregoing point. I have found that, if I never limp, eventually people stop respecting my raises, forcing me to play more and larger multi-way pots. Of course, there are other adjustments to make when this starts happening, but if your goal is try to keep the post-flop rounds down 1-3 total players (including you) so that you have the maximum options available for how to play them, then I suggest mixing in an occasional limp. I found that doing so gives the illusion to the others at the table that I'm playing like they are and raising only with my premium hands.
I don't have an exact percentage of how many limps I mix in. I'd estimate that it's around 10-15% of the hands that I play, with raises for the remaining 85-90%.
PS: I'm mostly a 1/2 NL player. 2/5 NL players are naturally more aggressive, and in my experience, you'll see a lot less limping in those games anyway, at least as compared to 1/2 NL.