I have been playing a lot of 4/8 LHE lately. Most poker books recommend loosening up in LP: fold AT UTG but raise on the BTN, for example. However, I have noticed that, in my games, many players limp in with good, even very good, hands. I see people limping all the time with KK, QQ, AKs, etc. Therefore, I question whether one can assume that a hand like AT is really good in LP just because no one has raised yet. Raising with AT when one person has limped with AK and another with TT is no fun! Thoughts?

They also limp with 94

They also limp with A2 - A9, so in those cases raising AT is great, and there are many more A2-A9 hands than there are AJ-AK hands.

Confirmed!

An important facet of LP is that it becomes less likely there will be a raise behind you. That's especially important for different types of hands and you dont want to be three bet when holding AT.

Getting caught by a limped AA,KK can be frustrating but just think of the odds they gave you to outdraw them, the bets they missed, and the pot odds they helped escalate by pulling other loose passives into the pot. Just take a deep breath and welcome them at the table.

Note that it is different if the action is folded to you than if there are players calling one bet ahead of you.

Also, a conceptual issue I have had for years:

First you take the big blind, then small blind, then you get the button. After that, the cutoff, and then the hijack, u.s.w. As the game continues, you are playing in earlier and earlier position, until you take the big blind again.

So you shouldn't be loosening up in late position; you should be playing tighter and tighter with each hand you play until you take the blinds, and then open up your range again.

You're still doing well with ATo even if you're opponents limp with big hands. The exception would be if they are all tight players. A good players money comes from exploiting the bad players mistakes. Raising does exactly this, especially in position. Think of all the times you both miss the flop but you win with your worse hand because of your aggression. Think about the 4 card flops you may get to see. You get to put money in the pot when the board is favorable or check when not.

The key is to make appropriate adjustments post flop against these players. Don't overplay your hand if they come alive when an Ace hits. Figure out if they will fold their Ace high by the river or if they get stubborn.

So really, like any exploitative strategy, it begins with "it depends".

Like someone limping kings up front is only half the story. I'll give you a few examples using VPIP

Say you're against two players, both never raise preflop without AA. However, one plays 12% of hands and another plays 60%. Against the former, we certainly don't want to raise ATo as it performs poorly against his range. Against the latter, however, we are an over 3:2 favorite in position and should happily raise him. Sometimes he will have us dominated. It happens. But we'll dominate him more, which is what we care about.

A few nights ago, I actually came across a player like that. He was playing over half the deck, and limped in big pairs a few times. Yes, it's annoying when their bad play costs us $ in the form of us playing a hand we wouldn't normally, had they raised pre. But it's balanced by all the crap they do play.