Dealing with habitual limpers

Poker Strategy / Marcus Bateman / 17 May 2010 / Leave a Comment

Although it can drive you insane in the short term, habitual limpers are the biggest donators in poker long term.

We all know the player type. They seem to be calling pre flop with basically every hand, endlessly calling with the strangest holdings in the weirdest spots. They usually go home broke - but they certainly don't go home curious.

These players can be amongst the most frustrating to deal with, seemingly impossible to push off hands and frequently out flopping you with junk in spots where you can never fold (watching these guys call with seven two against your ace king and seeing a king, seven, two rainbow flop, followed by them stacking you can be maddening in the short term). As a result, you often see these players drive even quite solid players to tilt, and understanding how to deal with them is crucial to beating the lower stakes.

The key point about these players is that they are all long term losers. You simply cannot continually fight the mathematics in poker, and habitually calling with junk against tight players always ends in tears over the year. That being said, in the short term it is a very volatile style that if you are running well can make you money very fast (good old variance) - which is the key reason weak players use this style. As they are there to gamble, such a style gives them the variance and possibility of a quick, big win they crave.

As a result, it is crucial to keep your head when these players are at the table. They will always end up as net losers in the game, and making sure that you give yourself the best chance to win their chips is crucial to beating this playing style in the long run. Although it can drive you insane in the short term, these players are the biggest donators in poker long term, and keeping your head is fundamental to beating them - no matter how many beats they lay on you.

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