At a glance
- On the HUD
- OL
- Formula
open limps / times everyone before them folded- Typical range
0–12%
- Where it shows
- In the player database, where you can see every stat for a player (not on the table badges).
- Read hint
- Above: Limps a lot: isolate them.
- 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
Open limping means entering an unopened pot by calling instead of raising. It gives up the two things a raise wins: the blinds right away, and the betting lead after the flop. Strong players rarely do it outside the small blind, so a high number usually marks a recreational player.
The open-limp range is usually the middle of a player’s hands: small pairs, suited connectors, weak aces and offsuit broadways, hands they like but don’t want to raise. Some players also limp their best hands hoping to re-raise, which is what limp-raise catches.
Open limp is narrower than limp, which also counts over-limps behind other limpers. And it shares every chance with raise first in: same spots, counting the calls instead of the raises.
How it’s calculated
- A chance: the same as raise first in. It’s the player’s first preflop decision with everyone before them folded: no raise and no limper.
- Counts: if they just called the big blind. In the small blind, completing counts.
- A chance without an open limp: an open-raise or a fold.
- Never a chance: the big blind, since everyone folding to it ends the hand.
The formula is open limps ÷ times everyone before them folded, kept by seat. Since the two stats share their chances, a player’s RFI, open limp and first-in folds together make 100%.
Example: it folds to Sam 30 times. He raises 6, limps 9 and folds 15, so his RFI is 6 ÷ 30 = 20% and his open limp is 9 ÷ 30 = 30%. He plays half the pots he could open (15 ÷ 30) and limps more of them than he raises. Four of the 9 limps came from the small blind, and the by-seat numbers keep those apart from his limps in other seats.
Why it matters
Open limpers hand you dead money and position. Their range is usually capped, because most players raise their best hands, and many of them fold to a raise or call and give up on the flop. An iso-raise in position turns their limp into a heads-up pot where you hold the stronger range and act last on every street.
Start with the numbers. With one limper, the pot is 0.5 + 1 + 1 = 2.5 bb, and a 5 bb raise there needs the blinds and the limper all to fold more than 5 ÷ 7.5 = 66.7% of the time to show an immediate profit. You don’t need that: when the limper calls, you’re still in position against a weaker range. Their limp-fold and limp-call tell you which half of that plan to expect.
Open limp also sorts the table. A player with both a high RFI and a high open limp enters almost every pot they can. One with a low RFI and a high open limp is passive, and their rare raises are strong.
Too low, about right, too high
The typical range starts at 0%, so open limp never turns blue; the HUD only colors it gold above 12%. The three bands below are read with that in mind.
Raise or fold: 0%
What it says
A 0% open limp means the player never enters first by calling: every unopened pot is a raise or a fold, the small blind included. That’s how most regulars play, and it tells you nothing bad about them. Everything they do first in shows up in raise first in.
How to exploit it
There’s nothing to attack in this number directly. Read their opens with raise first in by seat and their reaction to aggression with fold to 3-bet. One spot is worth a look from the big blind: a raise-or-fold small blind with a high small-blind RFI is opening a wide range, so defend and 3-bet more against it. And if their raise first in is low too, they fold most first-in spots: treat them as tight, respect their opens and steal their blinds.
Some limping: up to 12%
What it says
A little open limping is common at PokerNow tables. Often all of it comes from the small blind, where completing against the big blind is a reasonable plan. If the limps come from early and middle seats instead, it’s a habit rather than a plan, usually with small pairs and suited connectors.
How to exploit it
- Check the seat first. Small-blind completes: raise them from the big blind with a wide range of hands that play well heads-up. The HUD counts that raise as your own iso-raise.
- Early-seat limps: iso-raise from late position with pairs, suited broadways, suited aces and AJo+.
- Look at their limp-raise before you attack with weak hands. A player who limp-raises often is limping strong hands too.
Too high: over 12%
What it says
Over 12%, the player limps first in as a habit, and the HUD’s read says what to do: “Limps a lot: isolate them.” They usually pair a high VPIP with a low PFR, the Fish or Whale profile, and limp hands they don’t want to fold but can’t raise. Their range is wide and mostly medium strength, and after the flop they tend to call with any piece.
How to exploit it
- Iso-raise wide in position: any pair, any suited ace, suited broadways and connectors, and offsuit broadways. Size it bigger than your normal open, and bigger again for each extra limper.
- C-bet often in the heads-up pot, then value-bet thinner on the turn and river when they keep calling.
- If their limp-fold is high, iso even wider. If their limp-raise is high, tighten up and raise hands that can call a re-raise.
- Out of position, iso a little tighter: a wide range plays worse when you act first after the flop.
When it’s your own number
If your open limp is over 12%, observant players raise your limps to isolate you, and the read appears on your own badge. Each iso-raise makes you fold the chips you put in or play a bigger pot out of position with a weaker range.
Check yours by seat. Limps from the small blind can be part of a sound plan against the big blind. Limps from other seats are almost always better as raises or folds: raise the hands that play well, fold the ones that don’t.
Using it on the HUD
In PokerNow HUD Advanced, open limp lives in the player database, not on the table badges. Hover or tap it there for the sample (such as “9 of 31 opportunities”), the typical range and the read hint. It turns gold above 12% and fades under 12 chances. It shares its chances with raise first in, so it fills at the same pace: a player under the gun gets a chance every hand, on the button only when it’s folded to.
Because open limp has a read hint, a high number can still turn into a read for that player once it has 12 chances and clears 12% by one standard error. At 30% over 20 chances the error is about ±10 points, so a 30% open limp is 18 points over and makes a read. On your turn after a limp, the panel lists each limper’s limp-fold and limp-raise under your iso-raise.
Questions
What is open limping in poker?
Open limping is entering an unopened pot by just calling the big blind instead of raising, when everyone before you has folded. The HUD’s open limp stat is the share of those first-in spots where a player limps. Completing the small blind when it folds to you counts too.
Is open limping bad?
From most seats, usually. A limp gives up the chance to win the blinds right away and hands the betting lead to whoever raises behind you, and players with a high open limp get isolated often. Completing the small blind against the big blind is the main exception, since the price is good and only one player is left to act.
Open limp vs limp: what’s the difference?
Open limp only counts limps when everyone before the player folded. Limp counts every time they just call in an unraised pot, so it also includes over-limps behind other limpers. A player with a high limp and a low open limp rarely starts limped pots but happily joins them.
Does completing the small blind count as an open limp?
Yes. When it folds to the small blind and they just complete, that’s an open limp, kept under the small-blind seat. Because the HUD keeps open limp by seat, you can tell a player who only completes the small blind from one who limps from every position.