At a glance
- On the HUD
- L-F
- Formula
folds / times they limped and then faced a raise- Typical range
30–70%
- Where it shows
- Badge: limpers in a limped pot. Panel on your turn: when you isolate, each limper’s fold rate.
- Trust it after
- 12 chances. Below that the number is faded; reads need 12 chances and a number at least one standard error outside the typical range.
What it measures
A limp is calling the big blind instead of raising. After a limp, the player can face a raise: an iso-raise from someone behind, or a raise from the big blind. Limp-fold measures what they do then, and specifically how often they give the hand up.
It’s one of three answers to the same spot. Limp-call counts the calls and limp-raise counts the re-raises; together they cover every response. Limp-fold is the one that tells you whether raising a limper wins the pot or just builds one.
It’s different from limp and open limp, which count how often a player limps in the first place, and from fold vs open, which is about players who haven’t put money in yet. A limper has already shown a hand they wanted to play and has a chip in the pot, which is why their folds are worth tracking separately.
How it’s calculated
Limp-fold = folds ÷ times they limped and then faced a raise
- Limp: any call of the big blind in an unraised pot. That includes open-limps, over-limps behind other limpers and the small blind completing. In straddled games, calling the straddle also counts. The big blind’s check doesn’t, because a posted blind isn’t voluntary.
- Chance: after the limp, their next action faced exactly one raise. If the pot was raised and re-raised before it got back to them, the hand isn’t counted.
- Event: they folded.
It’s one number, not split by seat or position.
Example: Sam limped 60 times over a long home game. Someone raised behind him 25 times, but once the raise was re-raised before the action got back to him, so he had 24 chances. He folded 9, called 13 and re-raised 2. Limp-fold = 9 / 24 = 38%, limp-call = 13 / 24 = 54%, limp-raise = 2 / 24 = 8% (he always had chips behind). Sam is a limp-caller first and a folder second, and raising him is mostly a value play.
Why it matters
Limp-fold decides whether an iso-raise is a steal or a value bet. With one limper, the pot holds 2.5 bb: the 1.5 bb in blinds and the 1 bb limp. Raise to 5 bb and you risk 5 to win 2.5, so the raise profits on the spot if everyone folds more than 5 / 7.5 = 66.7% of the time. A raise to 4 bb needs 4 / 6.5 = 61.5%. The limper’s fold rate is the biggest piece, but the blinds have to fold too.
Add a second limper and it gets harder fast. A raise to 6 bb risks 6 to win 3.5, so it needs everyone to fold more than 6 / 9.5 = 63.2%. Two limpers who each fold 50% both fold only about 25% of the time (0.5 × 0.5), so raising two limpers is almost always for value.
That’s the main use of the stat: deciding whether to iso-raise hands that can’t win a big pot, like Q8o or 64s, or only hands that want a call. It also hints at their limping range. A high limp-fold means they limp lots of weak hands; a low one means they limp hands they like and won’t let go of.
Too low, about right, too high
Too low: under 30%
What it says
They hardly ever fold after limping. Most of the time they call, and once in a while they re-raise. This is the classic home-game limper: they limp because they want to see a flop, and a raise doesn’t change that. Their limping range is wide (suited cards, small pairs, weak aces) and often contains big hands too. Often it’s a Fish, Whale or Station type with a high VPIP.
How to exploit it
- Iso-raise for value only: pairs, big aces, broadways and suited aces. Drop the pure bluffs; they won’t fold.
- Raise bigger. They call 5 bb about as often as 4 bb, so the larger size wins more with your value hands. Around 5–6 bb plus 1 bb per extra limper suits most home games. Limp-call confirms they’re calling rather than re-raising.
- Plan to play a flop. A sticky limper with a low fold to c-bet is someone you value-bet thinly, not someone you bluff.
- With small pairs and suited connectors, over-limp instead of raising. You won’t win the pot preflop, and a cheap multiway flop suits those hands.
About right: 30–70%
What it says
They fold the bottom of their limping range to a raise and continue with the rest. Toward 30% the limper mostly calls; toward 70% they limp junk and give it up. Most limpers sit somewhere in here, so the number matters most when you combine it with how often they limp and how often they trap. Seat matters too: a small blind who completes and then folds to the big blind’s raise is common and cheap.
How to exploit it
- Look at limp first. A player who limps 20% of hands and folds 60% of those to a raise gives you a steady stream of 2.5 bb pots to pick up.
- Check limp-raise before raising light. A trapper in this band folds weak hands but re-raises big ones.
- Size to the table. In loose games a raise to 4 bb gets called by the blinds too; if isolation keeps failing, raise bigger or only for value.
- From the big blind, raise limpers in the upper half of the band more often. You’ll be out of position when called, but a limper who folds 60–70% often ends the hand before that matters.
Too high: over 70%
What it says
They limp hands they don’t want to play for a raise. This is a timid or tight-passive player who limps suited cards and small pairs to see cheap flops and folds as soon as there’s pressure. They may also be new to the game and unsure what to do once the pot gets raised. A high limp-fold alongside a meaningful limp-raise means a split range: junk that folds, monsters that re-raise, and little in between.
How to exploit it
- Iso-raise them wide, including hands like K8o, Q9o and suited one-gappers you’d otherwise fold. If the limper folds 75% and the blinds let it through 85% of the time, everyone folds about 64% (0.75 × 0.85), more than the 61.5% a raise to 4 bb needs.
- Use a smaller size, around 3.5–4 bb with one limper. They fold to any raise, so there’s no reason to risk more.
- When they call, their range is stronger than their limping range; slow down with weak hands after the flop.
- If they limp-raise at all, believe it and fold everything but the top of your range.
When it’s your own number
Limp-fold has no read, so nothing shows on your badge, but opponents with the HUD see the number. If you limp often and fold most of those limps to a raise, they’ll iso-raise you with any two cards, and every limp-fold costs you the chip you put in.
The simplest fix is to limp less. If you do limp, in a game where limping is normal or to see cheap multiway flops, limp hands you’re happy to call a raise with, and mix in a few strong hands that limp-raise. If your limp-fold sits above 70% over 30 or more chances, you’re limping too many hands you don’t want to play.
Using it on the HUD
Limp-fold shows on each limper’s badge in a limped pot, next to their limp-raise. On your turn, when you can raise over limpers, the panel lists each limper’s fold rate, which is what you need to choose between an iso-raise, an over-limp and a fold. With several limpers, multiply their fold rates for a rough chance that all of them fold.
It turns gold above 70% and blue below 30%, with no read. It fills faster than most re-raise stats in loose games, because limpers face raises often, but it’s still a narrow spot: 12 chances can take a few hundred hands against a frequent limper and far more against a tight one. At 50%, 30 chances still leave about ±9 points.
Read it with limp-call, limp-raise and the iso-raise numbers of players behind you, who may raise the limper if you just over-limp.
Questions
What does limp-fold mean in poker?
Limp-fold is limping into a pot and then folding when someone raises. As a HUD stat, it’s the share of times a player limped and then faced a raise that they folded. The typical range is 30–70%; above it, their limps are weak and easy to raise off the pot.
How high does limp-fold need to be to iso-raise any two cards?
High, because the blinds must fold too. With one limper, a raise to 5 bb risks 5 to win 2.5 and needs everyone to fold more than 66.7%; a 4 bb raise needs 61.5%. In practice you want a limper folding well above 70%, blinds that rarely defend, and position.
Limp-fold vs limp-call: which matters more?
They’re two sides of the same spot. Limp-fold tells you whether an iso-raise wins the pot right away; limp-call tells you how often you’ll play a flop against them. A low limp-fold with a high limp-call means raise for value and bigger; a high limp-fold means raise wide and small.
Does completing the small blind count as a limp?
Yes. Any call of the big blind in an unraised pot counts as a limp, including the small blind completing and over-limps behind other limpers. If the big blind then raises, the small blind’s fold, call or re-raise counts in limp-fold, limp-call and limp-raise. The big blind’s own check never counts.