In a full ring game what range are you completing from the SB?

I feel like this gets overlooked a lot and I'm curious as to what other players use a guideline here in a full ring game

I want to sharpen my fundamentals , how do the number limpers in front affect our completing range here?

I feel like we have this thread every now and again, but I'll throw in my $.02 again just for fun.

If there 4 or more limps, I'll probably complete something like all broadways, all connectors, 1 gappers, J8+, pairs up to 88, any 2 suited, and all wheel aces. The better hands get raised obviously. My room also has some bonus full house hands, so I'll also complete any 2 that can hit one of those. (i.e. if 7s full of 4s qualifies for a bonus of $200+, I'll complete 74). That's probably a looser ranger than most here would advocate, but not too out of line. As the number of limpers starts to drop, I'll start throwing out some of the weaker hands, but open up my isoing range.

so you would complete less often with less limpers in front of you?

I thought we would want a stronger range for situations with many limpers bc we are going to have to beat the field OOP and flop 2p+ a good amount of the time in order to continue

I think it depends on the game quite a lot.

In a weak/tight games I like to call a lot of trash and stab at dry flops or OTT if the flop checks around.

Sometimes I think it's worth making -EV calls from the SB to keep yourself under the radar at a table full of ''fun players'' or if you're prone to get nervous, bored, etc if you don't play a hand for awhile.

Not sure if +EV, but (besides the obvious stuff) generally I'm completing Ax, Kx, suited cards, connectors, one and two gappers (maybe down to 74), probably most Qx, stuff like J7o.

In weak tight games squeezing trash from SB can be quite profitable also.

The problem with a limped pot is that when you hit something pretty good, it is hard to collect any money from everyone else that limped with trash that didn't hit. The range you can play depends on how easily you can throw away TPNK to pressure.

I complete small pairs, suited ace or suited king, two broadway cards, any suited connector, one gapper, or two gapper, and any unsuited connector and one-gapper.

Essentially I want a hand that has potential to make a monster and could get action. So I throw away trash hands like J2 or 94 hands. With a hand like A5, if I flop an ace, I play carefully. They say not to go broke in an unraised pot.

anything resembling a hand that isnt strong enough to raise. i just c/f the flop unless i hit a good draw or a 2 pair or better. it keeps me involved in the game (boredom is very -EV) and prevents me from looking like a complete nit which is worth the small investment.

This is a question you could write a book about. As a general first pass, pairs I'm not raising, suited connectors 65+ and a few suited one gappers + unsuited connectors mixed in. But that gets adjusted a lot depending on the situation.

What are the blinds? At games like 1/3 where the SB is less then half the big blind you need to play tighter. At games like 3/5 where the SB is more then half the big blind play looser.

How often does the BB raise? If he is tight and/or passive then you can limp more, if he is aggressive limp less. If he is super aggressive you need to limp much less but you can mix in a few limp/raise with very strong hands.

What are stack sizes? If limpers average < 50BB the only thing worth limping is pocket pairs most of the time. As stacks hit 100BB add in suited connectors. At 150BB you can start playing suited one gappers and unsuited connectors. At 200BB+ you can mix in some very weak hands, any two cards T+, suited ace-rag, suited two gappers and unsuited one gappers. But particularly once you start mixing in garbage you don't want to play every hand you could, just some of the time.

What sort of players are in the hand? If they are stationary/spewy/bad then I want to get into more hands. As they get better play less. There is an interesting dynamic with aggressive ones though, you want to limp less against more aggressive players but if they push over the edge into super-laggy/spewy/manaic you can actually go back to playing more because you will get paid better when you do hit. Against tight players I'm limping less by chucking the high card hands that work against loose fish but are likely dominated against tight ones.

For the most part the number of limpers doesn't change my range. It changes how I play the hand post flop. The more limpers the better I need to hit the flop and the more passive I play in general.

With 1-2 limpers I will raise with medium pairs that I would limp against a crowd. TT-99 are the big questions here, JJ is usually worth a raise and 88- is usually best limped. Against 1-2 limpers that I know are bad I will sometimes limp with hands weaker then usual just to steal the pot on the turn.

I will say , the looks people give me when I snap muck for 1 more dollar is priceless

this certainly gives me more FE in spots, I enjoy temporary portraying a nitty image when I know I am the farthest thing from a nit, so when I start barreling like a mad man they are a bit confused

This keeps them guessing

After hearing responses maybe I should have asked what hands should I throw away here

I'm simply asking for a range suggestions to use as a guideline in a full ring L/P 1/2 game

Yea I'm mainly asking for 1/2 ; for my games, they are generally L/P; I would snap raise 99 and TT tbh, I agree 77 and 88 is usually close so I usually would think about it and lean towards completing

My main concern here is the RIO that come with completing a lot of garbage hands; we are always going to be in the worst position at the table and are vulnerable to getting coolered when calling with a lot of garbage hands, I feel like I could save a lot of money by narrowing by completing range in the SB, I am just not sure where the cut off point should be, I know it's a very general question so there isn't really a simple answer here

I'll break it down to the next level. In an unraised pot, I usually assume that I can only collect one bet post flop if I hit big. Say 3 people have limped and I'm confident that the BB is just checking. So the pot going to the flop is $9 and it is going to cost me $1 to play. My implied odds are 14:1 if I make a 1/2 PSB on the flop. That's enough to play smaller pocket pairs. However, my odds of hitting suited connectors on the flop is 20:1 and connectors are 25:1. I'm not getting enough to make playing them worthwhile, so I fold them.

If 6 people have limped in, now the implied odds jump to 23:1. SC become playable. If it is a 10 person table and it is a family pot, all connectors become playable.

If I have something like AJs, I'm going to raise, not call.

But yes, generally people have a huge leak in playing too much in the SB by completing.

It depends a lot on the game.

In a daytime game filled with passive regs, I'm completing way more than in a Friday night game with drunk people who are going to be sticky as hell

I haven't completed a SB in over 10 yrs

if its not worth raising it hits the muck

come to think of it, I haven't called a raise from the SB in over 10 years as well.
when you do raise or 3-bet from the SB for those paying attention it gets much more respect




there's no reason to play junk hands out of position
other then the need to feed your gambling habit

Say there are 6 limpers in front , you look at 78

You wouldn't even consider completing here?

this is a raise/fold?

the most obvious hands to complete are baby pairs , I know you're not folding 22-66 for one dollar and these hands aren't going to be raised from the SB generally

PP's are never being folded for half of a BB; I'm not going to entertain the idea of folding SC's for 1 dollar either

I'm more interested in the hands that are on the border, such as 45os or T8os , or maybe J6s

Where do I draw the line in the sand ? I just want a guideline bc I feel like I may be completing slightly too often , some hands like 93os are easy mucks but there are some hands that creep on the border that make me question where exactly the line should be drawn

I appreciate you breaking down the odds and what not , however I just want to like at hands in terms of playability and create a general guideline that I can make deviations from based on some of the factors that you mentioned above

hard to believe but I do fold them
although 78 suited is in my open raise from UTG and UTG+1 range

lets say 6 limpers
you got 22
flop looks good 762
either you get no action or someone flopped a set of 6's or 7's

I hardly play a hand from the SB BB UTG

but everyone thinks I'm a maniac because I play and raise 3-bet a lot from the other positions
weak passive tables like to limp often with hands that crush what you consider calling with because its only 1/2 a bet

At the games I play in at 1/2, 1/3 and 2/5, you would get action from many other hands than 66 or 77 on a 762 board.

76, all open ended draws continue, many FDs continue (front door and back door), some gut shots will call, some people will continue for a street with bare overcards and then donk if they hit.

open or fold strat works for steaks where people know what theyre doing. You're not going to get a ton of multiway limped pots at those levels.

I couldn't disagree more with this, I play with L/P stationy players that don't even consider folding TP, Middle pair , OESD, especially in a limped pot

6 combos of bigger sets and then there's the rest of the combos

In this particular instance I'm check raising and loving life ; the 1/2 player pool is terrible

So you muck 22-66 in SB for 1 dolar ? or do you raise them ? ; I appreciate you advocating a narrow completing range here bc that's what im trying to work towards but to say that you have a non existent completing range is so crazy to me; 10 years?! lol i'm sorry but that is pretty funny and hard to believe, that is discipline at its finest however so I give you credit

https://www.tommyangelo.com/how-to-p...e-small-blind/

https://www.tommyangelo.com/raise-yo...more-blinds-2/


decades ago he spoke about the play from the SB

here is a couple links to his updated advice

In standard lol games I raise TT+ AJ+ KQ JTs+ complete A9s-A2s 99-22. You can also just fold everything besides TT+ AQ+. It’s the small blind. There’s only so much you can really do. I kind of don’t believe anybody who claims to be doing meaningfully better playing suited connectors out of position in limped pots than they would be doing just punting the dollar.

This a troll, right?

some of my humor is lost on folks.


SB play has been discussed over and over
calling varies from slightly -EV to largely -EV


OP has stated several times he lacks the DISIPLINE, AND MENTAL FOCUS
to fold and is looking for comfort and reassurance that he is not alone in this.

its your money so by all means

by that logic with 7 limpers getting 15-1 why not call with 9-4 off
we could flop 994 or 944 or 999 or 444 or 876

I'm very close to this as a default, and up/down it depending on the game.

I've learned the hard way that SCs just play horribly out of position imo.

SB is the only time i play 9/10off, 86 off, etc just because if i hit a straight or 2 pair i usually can get paid as their impression is i only play "big cards".

Your villains thank you.