Joined: Jun '13
Location: Canada
Age: 80 (M)
Posts: 3700
I hate UTG because i very often have cards to see the flop but not enough to call a raise so i always have to fold nice cards that i would probably play in late position.
Joined: Mar '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 7371
This position is very difficult to play because whenever you get cards you would like to see the flop with, how do you play them.Do you just limp in and hope to see a cheap flop or do you raise and hope not to get reraised off them
Joined: Apr '11
Location: Romania
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 6669
It's true but this is why do you play by a strategy...
Strategies are made considering a very number of hands, not just a few. It's true that on some hands if you played them you could have take the hand but we need to see the big picture here
Joined: May '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 58 (M)
Posts: 1372
Yep small pairs and low to mid connectors may look tempting but they really should be folded UTG. You just have to come to terms with the fact that you will often be folding what turns out to be the best hand.
Joined: Mar '12
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 45 (F)
Posts: 2261
if you limp utg with average cards do you also limp with aa? I take alot of notes and I would notice if you were limp opening with average junk,as would most other players,best just to raise with decent hands and that way you are in control of what happens later.I used to think limping was fine but what happens if you limp with 67s or 33,button raises,you have to call and then you totally miss?Fold to a C bet?Worse still if you limp call with 67s flop comes 345 and the raiser has Ak or 99 and you get aggressive it is unlikely you will get paid. When you think about the times you limp utg with those cards,how many times do you actually hit well enough to stack someone?
While I agree with the above, if you have a tight image on the table, partly because you have been folding your 66 in this position before, sometimes, if your relatively deep stacked, you can try an occasional steal from out front.
if you have been playing quite tight the other players will give you some extra credit and may only call with top 75%-88% (KQ suited - JJ) hands, above that they will probably re-raise, if they do then perform a slow fold, as if your thinking or ranging them.
If you hit the flop, trap or bet, either way you may turn the hand into a monster pot, if you do not hit your done with this hand.
Joined: May '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 58 (M)
Posts: 1372
You should never limp UTG I can't think of any circumstances where that would be the right play. If they're not good enough to raise with then you should be folding them.
I know there are no absolute rules and someone is might come up with an unusual set of circumstance when limping UTG might be okay. But as a general rule, yeah it's just a really bad play.
Limping overall is most of the times very bad play, especially on microstakes. It is good to overlimp some pocket pairs and suited connectors and suited aces to see if you hit the flop, but better hands you should always reraise and isolate the limper (who probably has worse hand than you) and build a pot. But against certain players you can lay a trap, but they are not that stupid either, if they see you limp reraising, they will know you have a monster.
Joined: Feb '11
Location: Germany
Age: 31 (M)
Posts: 1859
All dependent on the table overall. On a table with lots of loose-passive players (most fishes) you can play more hands from UTG because you will see a flop alot more often.
Small/Mid pockets show this the best. on a passive table UTG all small/mid pairs are an easy limp preflop even UTG, because you will see a flop much more often than on a table with good players (they will know most of your range is a small/mid PP here and will just raise you off), plus if you hit a set you will on average get a much better payout. Also, on a table with fishes your limp will often get you people that limp along, which is what you want if you play a hand solely for setmining. On a table with some good players it's foldable because on average even if you hit your set you won't get paid as frequently.
There shouldn't be made a rule of thump about how to play, it's all dependent on situation, or at least it should be, to play as profitable as possible.
Joined: May '13
Location: Mauritius
Age: 32 (M)
Posts: 2688
Yeah it is a good move to the original poster, if you have bad cards in a bad position that is under the gun the best thing to do is wait for better cards and position. to make money at the poker tables for me is to have initiative+position and skill and you made the fat dollars. Anyway good luck at the tables hope you crush those fishes and show who the shark is.
About small pairs you should adapt depending on the players!
Joined: May '08
Location: Netherlands
Age: 53 (M)
Posts: 6197
Posted by pinotte: I hate UTG because i very often have cards to see the flop but not enough to call a raise so i always have to fold nice cards that i would probably play in late position.
Maybe minimize your starting hands in that position will do it
Joined: Aug '10
Location: Germany
Age: 52 (M)
Posts: 2219
Wait if you be at the bottom and than make a resteal But really, utg it is not easy to handle the situation against a raise before with a solid hand. But id you not sure what you can do, call the raise and see the flop.
But really, utg it is not easy to handle the situation against a raise before with a solid hand. But id you not sure what you can do, call the raise and see the flop.
