Completing the SB

[DonovanMD]

When I first started playing online this was a big leak of mine, like most new players, but after playing more online this year I've tightened up there a lot after seeing how much I lose out of the blinds. Its funny that live I'm very liberal with what I complete the SB with in a 1/2NL game, J9o, any offsuit connectors down to 56, suited two or three gappers, whatever. I just feel the players are so bad live I wont get in nearly as many tough spots playing more marginal hands for a buck.

But my online game needs more polish and I didnt want to get nearly that loose even in micro stakes games. But I'm wondering what a good range of minimum hands in the SB is when you have a couple of limpers in a 6 max 25NL game for instance. Should I be playing suited two gappers and any offsuit connectors? 910o is my minimum offsuit connectors hand generally, should I be completing with 89o and down? If so wheres a good cutoff?

If its folded around to the blinds I dump these marginal hands without even thinking, but in these low limits so often there are one or two limpers when it gets around to me and it makes me wonder if these hands have gained value as a result.

Anyway, I'd like your thoughts, and thanks to the regs in this forum, I've been lurking here for months and its really helped my online game.

[Bramsterdam]

A9o+, A2s+, KTo+, QT+, J8s+, JTo+, 76o+, 54s+

[DonovanMD]

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A9o+, A2s+, KTo+, QT+, J8s+, JTo+, 76o+, 54s+

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Sounds like a pretty standard minimum. Thanks for the insight.

[payoff wizard]

IMHO, limping in 6max is BS, especially from the SB. IMO, if there are a bunch of limpers to your SB and you have any hand worth playing (PP, SC, S1gaper, 2BW), you should pump the weak suckers with a big raise (say 6xBB + 1 per limper). If someone does raise pre-flop, you should be either folding, 3-betting with premium hands (99+, A10s+, AQ+), or (in multi-way pots) calling with big drawing hands like PPs or SCs.

[GreenTeal]

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IMHO, limping in 6max is BS, especially from the SB. IMO, if there are a bunch of limpers to your SB and you have any hand worth playing (PP, SC, S1gaper, 2BW), you should pump the weak suckers with a big raise (say 6xBB + 1 per limper). If someone does raise pre-flop, you should be either folding, 3-betting with premium hands (99+, A10s+, AQ+), or (in multi-way pots) calling with big drawing hands like PPs or SCs.

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no.

"pumping" these people (?) or the pot is nonsense. Youll play the rest of the hand OOP and you arent getting anybody to fold if they have a hand they wanna see a flop with.

After the flop you have to give up every time you dont make your hand cause u cant cbet into 3 NL25 donks.

edit: if you are thinking about squeeze play here, then yes, thats a valuable tactics, but not really a move to make regularly. At these stakes its debateable nonetheless.

[Vyse]

I am very tight with what I limp with. Only good drawing hands. SCs down to 43, and suited aces. Sometimes suited one-gap broadways. Only sometimes. I'm raising AJs+, 88+, and KQ.

[payoff wizard]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
IMHO, limping in 6max is BS, especially from the SB. IMO, if there are a bunch of limpers to your SB and you have any hand worth playing (PP, SC, S1gaper, 2BW), you should pump the weak suckers with a big raise (say 6xBB + 1 per limper). If someone does raise pre-flop, you should be either folding, 3-betting with premium hands (99+, A10s+, AQ+), or (in multi-way pots) calling with big drawing hands like PPs or SCs.

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no.

"pumping" these people (?) or the pot is nonsense. Youll play the rest of the hand OOP and you arent getting anybody to fold if they have a hand they wanna see a flop with.

After the flop you have to give up every time you dont make your hand cause u cant cbet into 3 NL25 donks.

edit: if you are thinking about squeeze play here, then yes, thats a valuable tactics, but not really a move to make regularly. At these stakes its debateable nonetheless.

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LOL. So you read my post, flamed it, then realised what I was talking about and edited your post to effectively agree with me. Yes, I am talking about squeeezing. It works - even at uNL.

[GreenTeal]

I didnt flame your post, sorry if it sounded like that. I dont ever flame anybody.

Well, the thing about squeeze play is that you do need certain conditions to use it effectively. Having an UTG limper and you picking up 84o isnt the right situation for a squeeze play, if at all.

As far as I understood OP was generally referring to completing the SB in common situations (1 or 2 limpers) not rather extreme cases (even for uNL, it rareley happens) where there are 4 limpers in front.

If its say 2 limpers already and you know how to effectively exploit them postflop then you can profitably complete with a wide range of hands. Squeezing is not an option here.

[payoff wizard]

I like the politeness GreenTeal, so lets discuss this like gents. Like I said, "if there are a bunch of limpers to your SB and you have any kind of hand worth playing", you should raise big. I agree that multi way pots OOP are painful, and so the aim here is to exploit the obvious weakness of the limpers to make them fold or, at worst, thin the field and go to the flop HU (thus making the success hero's c-bet more likely).

[0evg0]

if you're playing more than a couple tables, completing after limpers in the SB is so marginal that it's really a waste to be completing T5s and stuff like that. even if it's profitable, it's probably affecting your WR by about .0001 whether you decide to call or not.

as for open-completing SB, if anyone ever sees me do that, it's a misclick.