At a glance
- On the HUD
- L-R
- Formula
re-raises / times they limped, faced a raise and could re-raise- Typical range
0–10%
- Where it shows
- Badge: limpers in a limped pot. Panel on your turn: when you isolate.
- Read hint
- Above: Limp-raises: be wary of big hands.
- 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-raise, or limp-reraise, is the trap play: limp, wait for someone to raise, then re-raise. The player shows weakness on purpose, hoping the table builds the pot for them.
In most games it’s rare and strong. Players who do it tend to hold AA or KK, sometimes QQ or AK, because the line only makes sense when you’re happy to get the money in. A few aggressive players use it as a bluff against light iso-raisers, and those are exactly the players this number helps you find.
It’s the third answer to the limp spot, next to limp-fold and limp-call. Because the limp-reraise is the second raise of the hand, it also counts as a 3-bet: a player who limp-raises a lot shows a higher 3-bet than their raising style alone would give them.
How it’s calculated
Limp-raise = re-raises ÷ times they limped, faced a raise and could re-raise
- Chance: they limped (called the big blind in an unraised pot, including completing the small blind and calling a straddle), their next action faced exactly one raise, and they had more chips behind than the call. A limper whose stack the raise covers can’t limp-raise, so that hand counts for limp-fold and limp-call but not here.
- Event: they re-raised, all-in or not.
- It counts twice. The same re-raise also counts as a 3-bet, and the limper becomes the 3-bettor for fold to 4-bet and 3-bet size.
Example: Lee limped 80 times. In 30 of them someone raised behind and she had chips to re-raise. She limp-raised 4 times → 4 / 30 = 13%. That turns the number gold, but it isn’t a read yet: the standard error at that sample is about 6 points (√(0.13 × 0.87 / 30)), and 13% is only 3 points above the line. At 6 of 30 (20%), the read appears.
Why it matters
Limp-raise changes how you attack limpers. The iso-raise is one of the best money-makers in loose games, and the limp-reraise is the one answer that makes it backfire.
Here’s the price. A player limps, you raise to 5 bb on the button, the blinds fold and the limper makes it 15 bb. The pot holds 21.5 bb (the 1.5 in blinds, your 5, their 15), and you must call 10, so you need 10 / 31.5 = 31.7% equity on raw pot odds. Against AA and KK, hands like AJ and KQ fall well short. Against a limp-raiser who also does it with 76s and A4s, much of your iso range can continue.
From the limper’s side, a bluff is expensive: they put in 14 more to win 7.5, so it needs you to fold more than 14 / 21.5 = 65.1%. Your fold here counts in your fold to 3-bet, because the iso-raiser is the opener and the limp-raise is a 3-bet. That 65.1% sits just above the top of that stat’s 40–65% typical range, which is a big reason most limp-raises are value.
Too low, about right, too high
The typical range starts at 0%, so the HUD never colors limp-raise blue: a zero is normal. What matters at the low end is whether the zero rests on a real sample, and what it says about the hands they do limp.
Never: 0% on a real sample
What it says
They limp, someone raises, and they never come back over the top. Two kinds of player end up here: the honest limper who raises big hands first in and only limps medium and weak ones, and the passive player who limps everything, AA included, and just calls raises. PFR separates them: a player with a reasonable PFR raises their big hands, while one with a PFR near zero has nowhere else to put them.
How to exploit it
- Against the honest limper, iso-raise wide and with confidence. No trap is coming, and their limping range is capped.
- Against the passive limp-everything player, iso-raise for value but don’t assume a cap. When they call and then check-raise the flop, believe them.
- Either way, keep raising their limps. A limper who never re-raises lets you choose the size, and the HUD will turn the number gold once that changes.
- After the flop, value-bet the honest limper more freely: their calling range rarely holds an overpair, so top pair with a good kicker is usually ahead.
About right: 0–10%
What it says
An occasional limp-raise: the trap with AA or KK every so often. That describes most players who limp at all. A number like 5% over 20 chances is a single limp-raise, so treat it as a clue about where their big hands go, not as a habit. If they rarely limp at all, give any limp from them a second look.
How to exploit it
- Keep iso-raising, but fold most of your iso range to the limp-raise. Against AA, KK and the odd QQ or AK, hands like AJ and KQ don’t have the 31.7% they need.
- Continue with QQ+ and AK, and decide on JJ by the player.
- Don’t let one limp-raise scare you off. A single trap in 20 chances is no reason to stop raising their limps with good hands.
- Remember the hand when they show it down. One shown limp-raise with aces tells you more than a percentage over a handful of chances.
Too high: over 10%
What it says
They limp-raise often, which means one of two things. Either they limp many big hands as a trap and the table keeps raising into them, or they’ve learned that a limp-raise works as a bluff against players who iso-raise light. The HUD’s read here is “Limp-raises: be wary of big hands”, and for most players that’s the right default until you’ve seen a bluff.
How to exploit it
- Tighten your iso-raises behind them to hands that can call or 4-bet a limp-raise, like TT+ and AQ+.
- Over-limp more with speculative hands instead of raising. You see a cheap flop and avoid the trap.
- If showdowns prove they limp-raise light, 4-bet them. Their bluff needs more than 65.1% folds in the example above, and a 4-bet turns that against them.
- Expect their 3-bet to look higher than their opening style suggests. Their limp-raises are inside it.
- When they just call your raise, their range is weaker than usual, because their strong hands would have re-raised. C-bet more often in those pots.
When it’s your own number
On your own badge, a high limp-raise shows the read other players can use: “expect a big hand when you limp-raise.” Observant opponents will stop iso-raising your limps with marginal hands and fold to your limp-raises unless they have a premium. That kills both halves of the play: fewer raises to trap, and the raises you do get come from hands that won’t fold.
If you limp-raise more than one time in ten, mix in honest limps with medium hands, or stop limping and raise your big hands first in. In most home games, opening AA and KK to a normal size and getting called by the players behind is simpler and rarely costs you.
Using it on the HUD
Limp-raise shows on each limper’s badge in a limped pot, beside their limp-fold. On your turn, when you can raise over limpers, the panel lists it under each limper, so you see the trap risk before you choose a size. It turns gold above 10% and never blue.
The read needs 12 chances and a clear miss above 10%. With 12 chances, two limp-raises (17%) don’t make a read and three (25%) do; with 30 chances it takes six (20%).
Samples are thin, since each chance needs a limp, a raise and chips behind. Before the read arrives, use player type and open limp: a tight player who rarely limps is more likely to be trapping than a Fish who limps half their hands. And add every limp-raise you see shown down to your picture of the player.
Questions
What does limp-raise mean in poker?
A limp-raise, or limp-reraise, is limping into the pot and then re-raising when someone raises behind you. The HUD’s limp-raise stat is the share of times a player limped, faced a raise and had chips to re-raise, that they did. The typical range is 0–10%.
What hands do people limp-raise with?
Mostly big pairs, AA and KK, sometimes QQ or AK, especially in home games where players like to trap. A few aggressive players limp-raise bluffs against light iso-raisers. A limp-raise above 10% over a real sample is the HUD’s cue that this player does it more than most.
How should you respond to a limp-reraise?
Fold most of your iso-raising range unless they’ve shown bluffs. After a 1 bb limp, your raise to 5 bb and their re-raise to 15 bb, you need 31.7% equity on pot odds alone, which hands like AJ and KQ don’t have against AA and KK. Continue with QQ+ and AK.
Does a limp-raise count as a 3-bet?
Yes. The limp-reraise is the second raise of the hand, so the HUD counts it in the player’s 3-bet percentage too, and the limper becomes the 3-bettor for fold to 4-bet and 3-bet size. A player who limp-raises often shows a higher 3-bet than their raising style suggests.