Limp — Poker Term Explained

A limp is entering the preflop pot for exactly one big blind, without raising. Because nobody has been put under pressure, every player behind gets a cheap price to come along, so limped pots tend to reach the flop with more players than raised pots do. A hand that looked reasonable preflop then has to play a multiway flop against a very wide set of holdings, with no initiative and usually without position.

In most spots raising or folding beats limping. If a hand is good enough to put money in, it is usually good enough to raise — and raising wins two ways: opponents fold immediately, or they call and you keep the initiative on the flop. One situation where limping is common is from the small blind against a passive big blind. When somebody limps in front of you, consider a raise larger than your standard open so you can play the hand heads-up. The exact choice depends on the format, your position, effective stacks and the opponents.

The common leak is the limp-call: limping a medium hand and then calling a raise from behind. That builds a bigger pot with a weaker hand, out of position and without initiative. The second leak is limping a big pair to trap, which invites several opponents into a cheap flop at exactly the moment your hand is strongest.

• A limp puts in exactly one big blind preflop
• Illustration: if the big blind is 2, a limp costs 2 while a raise costs more
• Illustration: if your standard open is 2.5 big blinds, an isolation raise over a limper is larger than that
• Exact sizing depends on format, effective stacks and opponent tendencies

שחקן ב-UTG קורא 1BB במקום לפתוח ל-2.5BB — זה לימפ.