Limp, limp, hero in the Sb with AJo?
1/2. Effective stacks 425. Rake 6-3-1, no flop, no drop.
HJ and BTN are calling stations.
BB has mostly open limped, called limps, and called limp-raises. Over five orbits, he has opened three times.
Hero has a TAG image if anyone pays attention
OTTH
HJ open limps, BTN calls. Hero with AsJc in the SB. Hero?
18 Replies
I raise to $25. I don't think you can go too far wrong here as long as you don't fold.
I would complete and use AQo and ATs as the bottom of our iso range against two calling stations. The nice part about completing is that we can get a lot of money in on A- and J-high boards because these guys are probably limping all Ax hands and a lot of J7s type stuff.
That being said, HJ open-limping range is super weak (unless this guy is limping everything) so raising can't be bad either.
At 1/3, I'm playing this as raise or fold.
At 1/2, I'll throw in the dollar if I don't want to raise. Against this lineup, complete (and then fold if BB raises).
This is good enough to raise. I would make it $20.
Against 3 limpers, I would probably complete here. If one of the limpers was from EP, I might complete as well. This is a pretty cuspy spot. I don't think completing is a real mistake.
Crush Live Poker has ranges for ISOing over limpers that I like. AJo is an ISO here according to those charts.
Generally I would iso this hand unless any of the limpers are mega nits that limp AQ. The exact iso size depends on the game., but generally I would go larger than I would in position.
If you make a pair with AJ in a limped pot your hand is fairly strong. If you hit top pair it is kind of like AK in a limped pot. If you get it heads up, you can rep strong hands and have decent equity on some boards.
I would raise AJo and usually complete with ATo. Folding it in the SB in 1/3 is a little over the top. I would definitely raise much tighter from the blinds than on the button.
I would probably raise to 16, although I don't hate a limp if you feel it's better in the game.
I would be more cautious than Mlark, at least on A high boards.
It's a mix for me, dawg.
...in general, that is.
Since both limpers are stations and, assuming the absence of game-flow reads means there are none to report, I don't see any reason why we wouldn't bump it up.
25 seems a bit much at most tables to 2 limpers at 1/2. You have to go big OOP, but this sizing will probably often take the blinds, which is not a big disaster.
Results
Hero calls. BB checks. Hero whiffed flop and folds to a bet. Everyone folds.
I don’t know why I didn’t raise.
On the upside, you lost the minimum.
I rack up before my next BB and try to find a game with lower rake.
is the 1 a tip?
I raise pre but that's just me.
AJ just isn't a calling hand the majority of the time. The normal raise size should be around 8x, and I'd add alil with two stations to around 20.
Apropos of nothing, I thought I'd list all the scenarios where I would call AJo preflop:
- Defending the BB/straddle against a 1/2p- raise from a 10%+ range, a 3/4p raise from a 15%+ range, or a full-pot raise from a 30%+ range
- Facing a 1/2p- raise in the SB from a 20%+ range*
- Facing a raise from a 20%+ range OTB*
- Facing a limp (or limps) OTB where we'd want to employ a 15/15/70 polar strategy
- Facing a limp (or limps) in the SB where we'd want to employ a semi-linear strategy with a <20% raising freq*
- Facing a 3b of 15%+ IP
- Facing a 3b of 10%+ IP**
* Mixed with at least 50% raises
** Mixed with at least 50% folds
Obviously not gonna list out all the configurations where AJs calls.
