Poker Strategy: Limping With AA?

A recent post by Tony Bigcharles (or TBC or sevencard2003) mentioned his regret at limping in two hands with AA in early position in some cash game $1/2 NL Hold em. Not surprisingly, he lost both hands. Several posters on Tony's blog and other places in cyberspace blasted him for it, with many players claiming that you should never limp with AA. Well, never means never, and I certainly do not agree. If you agree with the premise that sometimes you can limp with AA, the issue then becomes "when can you do it, and how should you play after you do it?" Or course, I realize that limping with AA is certainly not a normal play good players make and takes a player with a good sense of the circumstances and table character along with a willingness to gamble (lol).

First, position is extremely important. Sometimes people are tempted to limp with AA when they are UTG or in early position and fear that a raise might scare off players, leaving them with only the blinds -- a very poor return on the best starting hand in poker. Of course, since players have a tendency to overplay pocket Aces, isn't winning a little bit better than potentially losing a lot?

On the other hand, limping in also increases the odds that several people might be in the pot -- something you obviously do not want to happen. Limping in and seeing the flop with four or five others is a disaster waiting to happen.

I think limping UTG or in EP is most effective in the following circumstances:

1) You are convinced that one or more players at the table, based on previous hands, will be aggressive and raise the pot. This gives you a chance to reraise, maybe even push all in if the circumstances seem right.

2) You are short stacked in a tournament and are trying to induce a raise from someone looking to steal from your limp. However, if you have been extremely short stacked and have been in fold or shove mode, you are practically announcing that you have a monster and will likely get little or no action.

3) You are in a tournament that has a top-heavy payout or bonus. For example, the first place winner gets a bonus of a ticket to a a big tournament and second place on only gets a meager payouts. In this kind of example it might be worth the risk to lose the hand since the upside is so high.

A key point in limping with AA, however, is that you can't fall in love with the cards. When you know you are beat you have to have the discipline to fold your hand. If you can't muster the courage to do that, you probably have no business limping with them in the first place.

I am sure that some other players can come up with additional examples of when limping with Aces might be a decent idea. The point is that, like most things in life, there is not a 100% black or white, right or wrong answer. Those who think like that are likely missing opportunities to take their game to the next level.