What is a limp in poker?

Calling the big blind before the flop instead of raising, when nobody has raised yet. Calling after a limp is called an over-limp.

Can a limp win the pot before the flop?

Not while the big blind is in the hand: facing a limp, it can check for free, so a limp never makes it fold.

How many folds does an isolation raise need?

Against a 1bb limp, the pot is 2.5bb: as a pure bluff, a raise to 4bb needs everyone to fold 61.5% of the time, a raise to 6bb 70.6%. The bigger the raise, the more folds it needs.

Limping in Poker: Calling the Big Blind Instead of Raising

By the Poker Puzzle Trainer team · Published October 21, 2026

Limping in poker means calling the big blind before the flop instead of raising, when nobody has raised yet. Example: the cutoff limps 1bb and the next players fold; in the small blind, completing costs 0.5bb for a 3bb pot, so 16.7% equity, with the big blind still to act. A limp never makes the big blind fold: it can check for free.

A♥9♥ on the button facing an UTG limp

UTG limps 1bb, MP and the cutoff fold, and you are on the button with A♥9♥, 100bb deep. Fold, over-limp, iso-raise to 5bb or iso-raise to 8bb?

This puzzle on its own page →

See the answer

The options, for a 2.5bb pot:

Option	What you add	What it needs
Over-limp	1bb	28.6% equity, both blinds still to act
Iso-raise to 5bb	5bb	66.7% folds for a pure bluff
Iso-raise to 8bb	8bb	76.2% folds for a pure bluff

Before the flop, A♥9♥ against hands that limp:

UTG's hand	A♥9♥'s equity
A♣5♦	69%
J♣9♣	68.4%
K♦8♦	62.1%
5♠4♠	60.9%
K♣J♦	60.5%
T♦8♦	58.9%
Q♠T♠	55.8%
2♣2♦	49.9%
7♣7♦	46.5%
A♠J♣	31.6%

A♥9♥ has more than 55% against every unpaired hand in this table except A♠J♣, and dominates A♣5♦ and J♣9♣. The over-limp folds out nobody and lets the blinds in; the iso-raise to 5bb costs 3bb less than the one to 8bb and needs fewer folds. The expected answer is the iso-raise to 5bb.

The price of an isolation raise

One player has limped 1bb and everyone else folds to you, 100bb:

Iso-raise	Folds needed for a pure bluff	Pot if only the limper calls
4bb	61.5%	9.5bb
5bb	66.7%	11.5bb
6bb	70.6%	13.5bb

A bigger raise has to fold out the table more often, and the called pot grows faster.

Keep going

The next raise: what is a 3‑bet.
Calling or raising an open: cold call vs 3‑bet.
The seat that completes a limp: small blind strategy.
The spot's hand: suited aces.
Why the button acts after the blinds on the flop: poker positions.
Preflop decisions to practice: the preflop quiz.
One spot every day: the daily poker puzzle.
Playing the pot after the limp: limped pots.
Isolating bigger against a limper who calls everything: micro stakes strategy.
The table rules before you sit down in a card room: live poker tips.
The limp among other beginner mistakes: common poker mistakes.

Today's spot →

Sources

Every equity is computed by exact enumeration with the app's equity module, and every price with its pot odds module, checked on October 11, 2026.
The answer to the spot follows rules written by the app's author; it does not come from a solver.