Re: limpers & button
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Hand 1:
Preflop: Hero is button with 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
5 limpers, Hero ???.
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This is the only one that's remotely interesting to me. The others all seem to have very straight-forward answers. I haven't played in games that loose in a long time (perhaps only those few times I've played in live games). 5 limpers sounds about right for a raise, perhaps with any pocket pair (if there's a cutoff somewhere, it's right around 77). This is one of those things that I've never thought through completely and have simply taken on faith from the advice of many others who have come through this way. I want to think it all the way to the end, but it's quite late. So I'll just start...
You probably have an equity advantage, but it isn't that big and you have a playing disadvantage (large field reduces your postflop edge with non-drawing hands) which negates most of what that advantage might be. So I'm not sure I buy an equity argument for raising. There must be more to it.
The goal is to build a pot so that when you flop a set, you scoop a much bigger pot. You may think to yourself that you're putting in one extra bet to get 5-7 more bets in the pot, and so you're short of the 8:1 you need to flop a set. However, in a larger pot, you often find yourself getting a little more action than you normally would (action in a loose-passive game may just mean more callers). In very passive games, a preflop raise may induce everyone to auto-check to you on the flop (I hear this happens live), so that your one bet actually buys you a look at 4 cards somewhat often.
Sleep beckons. But this gives a small start for someone who wants to add thoughts and comments, and maybe even some calculations and stats(?).
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