Isoing with trash vs bad players

One of the most controversial strategy subjects of live No Limit is the concept of over limping. Is there a place for it and when should we do it? Some people think that if your hand is good enough to limp from late position than it is good enough to raise. Although being the aggressor is never a bad thing with superior position there are definitely times when over limping is a better choice. Usually this is the case in games where people are playing loose preflop from up front and the overall quality of players at the table is relatively weak.

Let us say that four people have limped in in a $2-$5 blind game and you are on the button with 9♣ 7♣. Let us also make the assumption that if you raise when one player calls everyone will call behind them. Is it better to bloat the pot up or just limp behind? The key here comes from your post flop ability to successfully build up a pot when you flop a big hand. This takes skill and experience and is not the easiest thing to do. However at the lower levels people have real trouble folding hands as weak as top pair, even in limped pots. If you find yourself in this situation then coming in cheaply from out back can be extremely profitable and less variant.

Let the preflop mistakes of others give you confidence within your game!!

Everybody hates it when they have a big hand cracked. You have been there before with pocket aces or kings and raise an amount that should never be called with a hand that is not paired. The board rolls out 3♣ 3♠ 4♦ and you see your stack vanish to a guy that called a huge three bet with 53s. Obviously it stings when we lose but there is another, positive way to look at this situation; one that should give you supreme confidence.

Every time our opponent make preflop mistakes with their calling ranges we win money—lots of money—in the long run. In fact at the lower levels of No Limit most of the money that is won and lost comes from preflop play. The simple fact of the matter is that in restricted buy in games players are really deep enough to call three bet pots or large single pot raises with suited connectors or gapped suited connectors. Every time that they do you win money and they lose. It does not matter if they get lucky and beat you in a pot. You should come away with confidence in these situations. You are at a good table and the players around you are bad. What else can we ask for when table selecting?