Who ever does this? I know poker (and tournament poker especially) rewards aggression and I wonder whenever I see this happen what defense there is to it? Can somebody give me an example of a situation where they might advocate open limping in LP or on the button (any conceiveable situation) and explain why it might be the best play? I'm just interested to know what some of the positives are to this as opposed to raising.

^^ confuse the blinds into allowing a non-raised flop, i guess.

2i think this play can be used effectively in 2 scenarios.

1. you have been making atttempts to steal blinds and have been getting restole on quite a bit.. so u limp to prevent the aggressive restealer and force them either to raise pot oop or play unraised pot oop. this is kind of like a limp steal.

2. you have a monster hand and feel that you are going to get shoved on by desperate shorter stak or overaggro bigger stack.

i would love to hear other instances where players feel this is an effective play.

Its an under the radar play to steal the whole pot after a check check flop, its like a delayed blind steal.

open limping has started to happen a lot. During the FTOPs, erik lindren did it a lot, and it was definitely profitable. The common thing in poker is to always do the opposite of what everyone else is doing at a table. If everyone at a table is being aggressive, tighten up and pick your spots. If people are being tight, loosen up your game and be the bully. LAG style of play is what everyone is playing now.....UTG steals, 3-betting light, etc etc...

open limiping is good because its a great defense against LAG players. For example, if the two blinds are super aggressive, decent to strong players, and you are the hijack and open limp, it is confusing to them. Should they check behind? Should they continue their aggressive style of play and raise to get you off of your broadway cards/pairs? Open limping is a really good way to mix up your game, because it adds a new element to the range of hands you play. For example, if you limp in the cutoff or on the button, but have raised/called in similar positions in earlier orbits, your range of hands can't be polarized to a set of hands. You can be open limping with J4 or AA, no one knows. Also, open limping vs LAG players puts the decision on THEM, thus forcing them to alter their game...and the LAG style of play be definition, is forcing your opponents to make decisions.

thats my two cents, i think it is a great weapon to have at high blinds, deep stacks, and antes obviosuly

imo if u are limping with 88 or 99 in lp your tournament game needs help

Ok, so lets say that you are the HJ, you open limp, and either the button/cutoff raise it up. You have options: 3-bet and respresent a monster, flat call, and you can obviously fold. If you open limp, you are only in it for the BB. Again, I would only open limp if i

1) had a short stack [and the blinds/antes were high] - say i have an M of about 4-7, depending on the strength of my hand, i could open limp with the intention of shoving allin to a reraise, or, of shoving any flop. Again, LAG players are now calling with a wide range of hands in the blinds WITHOUT the correct pot odds. Ace Rag, K5s+, 22-55, sometimes ive seen Q8+. So say you have an M of about 5, you have A8 in the cutoff, you limp, blinds are only going to raise hands that they want a call with, because you yourself being a short stack are forced to call with the odds

2) Was deep, like 25BB at least. Therefore, open limping won't hurt if i get reraised, cause i could fold only losing 1 BB. Or, i could flat a reraise and still be in the comfortable 20BB range. 25 BB also gives you room to 3-bet if you think the villian is raising light.

I understand what you are saying, and in poker there are so many variables that any one situation can be good/bad in different scenarios. If the LAG player leads a lot of flops, then use that to your advantage, call the flop, and re-evaluate on the turn. Most turn cards don't help you/villian, so use that to your advantage. Again, make sure you know the players you are limping against are good, and that have shown they are capable of folding. Smart players don't wnat to play pots OOP, so you won't be raised by the blinds unless they have a hand, or unless they are very comfortable playing OOP.

I would never open limp in late position w/out antes....it just isnt profitable. Open limping can get you in trouble, but most of the time, you'll get to see flops for very cheap, withs a wide range of hands. For example, you have a hand like JTs in late position. Strong hand, plays well on a lot of flops. Say you open limp from the cutoff.

1) if the button reraises, you can fold, and you only lost 1BB
2) if the SB reraises, you can fold [b/c he has to have a decent hand since he has one person left to act after him], or, you can flat him, and play a pot in position with a good hand
3) if the BB raises, you have the option of folding, 3-betting, flatting

But, say you raised JTs from the cutoff [as most people would], and one of the three players left to act reraises you 3x. Now, you are in a weird spot....you just lost 2.5BB, and have shown that you have a loose image and are raising wide.

I think this could work in the lower limits quite well actually, because most players wouldn't know how to play pots OOP, and most people at those limits don't even know how to play pots in position actually....just make sure that you don't turn into the donk and get yourself in trouble by trying to outplay opponents too often

It works great in micros against players who don't realize you would've raised if you really had a hand. Flop comes out with an ace or a king and your 97o takes the pot with a small bet, since they know they're in the blinds and I'm on the button, I must have an ace or a king. The delayed blind steal as someone already mentioned, however that was in relation to higher level games where it's effectiveness is probably highly situationally dependent. This move works consistently at the lower levels with little skill required.

I would never try this in a game with better players.