[bernie]

[ QUOTE ]
this is a raise, but i don't think limping is horrible. you are passing up on some equity, but a lot of the advantage with this hand will come in how well one plays it postflop. my guess is that some of the less experienced players are saying limp it, which is probably best for them as they likely aren't as adept in postflop play quite yet.

[/ QUOTE ]

PB,

Points already made in this thread about raising, as I knew they would be. Thanks to those that covered it.

My contention was that this is a default raise for every good winning player I know. Would they limp sometimes here? Maybe. But that's a deviation from the standard.

Usually in this spot those players don't deviate their play by way of limping with this type of hand(keep in mind the table texture we're dealing with). If anything, they get more aggressive with some lesser hands like lesser suited cons.

[ QUOTE ]
my guess is that some of the less experienced players are saying limp it, which is probably best for them as they likely aren't as adept in postflop play quite yet.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's interesting that you say this because when I see the majority of people limping in this spot this is exactly how I see their game: I figure if they're doing this, they're likely going to miss other bets postflop in other situations similar as far as value betting/raising. And it's usually true. It's almost like a domino effect from street to street and a good indication as to how they'll play. Especially since most players get more conservative the further into a hand they get. It does seem to have a linear effect.

In a way, I'd recommend lesser experienced players to raise this preflop so as to gain that equity since they're more likely to miss equity postflop. At least get it pre where you know you have an edge. It's also a good, cheap spot to learn how to get used to aggression. It can also have an effect of minimizing one's postflop mistakes, -EV-wise, since the pot will be bigger.

b