at 1-2nl in the casinos I frequent it is very very common to see 5-7 limps preflop and then I look down at my cards on the button and see ace rag. typically I am folding A7o and below but have started to throw in a few raises with A8o, A9o and of course I'm always 100% raising ATo and better here. the decision maker comes down to who the UTG and UTG+1 limps are and their tendencies to limp-reraise as well as their tendency to limp-fold. im not quite sure how to calculate the ev of raising hands like a8o and a9o here since a lot of it comes down to how the hand plays out post flop but it seems way more common than I originally thought that of ALL of these 7 limpers have random stupid hands and are just itching to see a cheap flop and won't put in another 15 or 20 bucks more to see the flop vs a button raise so I tend to take down a ton of pots in this spot with a preflop raise

just curious as to peoples opinion of this spot and the range they will pop it pre and what size they prefer. I usually aim for about 10x bb (20bucks) with 5 limps as it increases the chances of taking down the pot preflop without having to make any postflop decisions....

also with fishy reads on the early limpers I have no problem popping Axsooted (a2 is fine)

You're thinking about it wrong. In these spots you should be limping A2-A5s as well as suited connectors, pocket pairs, etc. AT+ of course raise. A6-A9o is always garbage. Dump it and definitely don't raise with it.

i think overlimping PPs here is a HUGE leak if players are as loose/passive as i descirbed (most 1-2nl are)

and in terms of the suited connectors i think that's wayyyy better played with a raise than a limp here ESPECIALLY WHEN DEEP STACKED if you don't understand why i guess i can explain

This x100. Fold pre A9o and worse always with multiple limpers. A skill edge and position will not make up for the fact that you have a crappy hand against multiple villains in a raised pot

If villains are very loose passive then we should limp in small PPs. Sure you can raise 99 or even 88,77 sometimes even with limps, but other smaller pairs you have to hit a set to win.

A tip I learned from a Phil Galfond video is to raise your complete garbage on occasion rather than a mediocre hand. I think you're better off raising T5o rather than A9o. A9 is just going to get you in trouble after the flop. Fish will limp all day with AT and AJ. With T5, you know you've got garbage and can play it accordingly. Plus, if you show it down, it will stick in people's minds and you'll get more action on your big hands. "There's that crazy idiot who raised with T5 raising again! I'm definitely calling". Obviously, do this pretty rarely at 1/2.

I think a lot of it depends on your table image. Even fish notice if you haven't played a single hand in 3 orbits. If you've been raising a lot of pots, you'll almost never take it down with a pre-flop raise in this spot. If you haven't raised in a while, you will get some respect from limper fish. You can overbet (like to 25) if you don't want to see a flop. Fish won't pick up on that.

Stop raising these hands and start folding them unless they are suited. Axs plays very well multiway so that's an obvious overlimp. AJ and below simply offer too high of reverse implied odds here to raise unless your a super rolled smart 1/2 lag that can release (doesn't exist). Btw, Old man coffee is limping his AK UTG..
Don't join the limpfest. Play TAG and value bet at 1/2. The biggest leak on most 1/2nl tables is that villains call too much PF with trash hands, so why would you try to exploit them by raising sub-marginal hands PF?

Best advice. Why raise your junky hands?

Lets say you get a call from 2 players and the flop is

AK2r

What do you do here?

Are you ahead of any calling players range?

These situations depend on how stationary your table is. If a raise will often fold out the table or leave you heads up then you can raise more often and A-medicore is a better raising hand because a lot of the calls will be pocket pairs. If the table is stationary and raising to $20 is just going to turn it into a 7 way pot for $140 on the flop only raise with hands where you can stack off comfortably on good flops.

With the mediocre AX you also have to watch out for the guys who limp/call with AK-AJ and won't give it up post flop if they hit. At some tables I'm more willing to raise TT-77 then with AJ because so much of villain's calling ranges is AJ+.

your a super rolled smart 1/2 lag that can release (doesn't exist) actually i thik i fit this description perfectly, rolled with about 150buyins or so and can play pretty well postflop, its not too tough to drop a pair of aces no kicker when facing heavy action, and most of the time i ll check one or two streets (if not all 3 depending on villian/reads) if I make top pair no kicker, it aint that tough man

And what if they're bluffing?


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WHO'S SMART NOW!

OP, you seem to suffer from the disease of trying to play small pots with winners and huge pots with bluffs. It's not enough to win the hand, the goal is to win as much as possible from the hand. In NL, we can frequently grade ourselves by asking "Did I win the maximum?" From the hands you've posted, you seem to run some desperate and determined bluffs. Playing this way will result in players calling you down much more. Be sure to take advantage of it when you have a likely winner.

Keep raising your button to 5-7 limpers til you're played back at. Your cards shouldn't even matter til that point.

General advice : lose the ego

your approach to playing speculative hands is almost the exact opposite of acceptable practice which the math supports. Get in the hand cheap, get lucky, and hope enough villains hit some kind of hand and pay you off.

1/2 players as a general rule play far too loose but if your attitude is that they are stupid you'll never become a decent poker player.

+1. I'd raise to $20 pre. And I'd raise with something like 77+ and most Broadway's. you want hands that can win at showdown often with just one pair

This. If they're paying off post flop, you can limp in with a much wider range than usual, get paid huge when you hit, and lose the min when you miss. I wouldn't take it too far and start playing 50% if hands. Something like 35% VPIP is fine though

If you think you can make it HU then raising a9o becomes pretty good

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