In the previous entries in this series (see part I and part II) we have mainly talked about how to play speculative hands cheaply by limping in. However, if you are going to do this in early position you will also need to balance it out by limp-reraising hands like big pairs (J-J+) and big Aces (A-Q+). This is a tactic that works best in lower stakes Sit & Go’s where players will make massive mistakes by stacking off with weak Aces and pairs incorrectly, and so complements the limping of speculative hands in early position.
However, at higher stakes players are better and not likely to stack off light, so limp-reraising is not advisable. You will usually either lose action or get it all-in against a better hand, apart from the occasional cooler situation where the money would have gone in however you played it.
Limp-reraising big hands should also be avoided once the blinds have gone up a bit, since you cannot profitably limp speculative hands to balance them out – focus instead on having a more balanced raising range.
Despite this you will still have to contend with players who do limp incorrectly in Sit & Go’s (especially at lower stakes), and while playing against them in the early stages is relatively straightforward, as the blinds go up it can become more tricky. Generally speaking you can still limp some hands like small pairs behind other limpers when the effective stacks are as low as 20 big blinds and you are in late position, but below this you should resort to an all-in or fold policy.
Some limps must go unpunished
Assuming you do that, you still need to exercise some caution because of the ICM considerations in Sit & Go’s. Try to assess the ranges your opponents limp with and how much of this range they are calling with. Shoving hands like 3-3 or A-8o over high-blind limpers can often be a mistake, since many bad players will limp-call with mediocre pairs or Broadway cards against which your equity is not that great in ICM terms. Therefore you should stick to stronger re-shoving ranges like A-T+, 7-7+ in most circumstances. However, if you see players who frequently limp-fold, or there is a lot of dead money in the pot from limpers and antes, then you can open those ranges a bit more since they will provide you with good overlay.
Above all, remember that limping is one of the more complicated aspects of Sit & Go play, especially because of the limited stack sizes, and try to think about the situation and variables as much as possible before making any decisions. If you can do this however, you will have a good edge in an area of Sit & Go play that other players neglect, and this can boost your ROI significantly.
Read part II