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I know I and others on DC have recently talked about limping in more often in live games to see more cheap flops vs. bad players with hands that can flop big. I mostly have agreed with this and it has seemed to be working out nice for me - but this definitely can just be a nice dose of run-good.

However, just as many advise online micro players to play tighter because of the high rake, should that same advice apply to live $1/2? Should limping more hands be reserved for $2/5+ where the rake is less? Thoughts/opinions?

Note: Where I play, it's 10% up to $5 + $1 for the bad beat + I tip $1 per hand ($2 for very big pots that took a good amount of time).

This depends on the local games of course, but generally, I'd say that your edge in live poker is usually high enough to withstand the added rake. The mistakes 1/2 players are making post flop make us the most money, so I think this over comes the cost of winning more pots with a higher rake percentage.

A lot of places have time rake instead of pot rake, in which case you don't need to tighten up. But yeah, you definitely want to tighten up your limping, especially if pots stay small postflop. You can still limp pretty wide in really soft games where pots are routinely limped preflop but often end up being several hundred dollars postflop.

Ive seen higher rakes where I would say this is true but I don't think a 5 max rake is enough to make too much of an adjustment

It really depends on how deep stacks are at the table, but I generally disagree with the conventional wisdom that 1/2 games are unbeatable due to rake. A) I think there is plenty of money to be made at 1/2, even with a 10% rake w/ a $5 cap. However, effective stacks need to be at 100bbs for my qualification to this statement. Apparently, Commerce or Bike (I'm from the East coast, this is just what I hear) was spreading a 2/5 game with $300 cap, and a hourly rake, rather than pot. That game, IMO is unbeatable, due to the lack of edge for skilled players playing shallow + timed rake. However, at my regular casino (Parx in philly), the 1/2 game usually has most players w/ minimum 100bb, and is 10% 5. I think players are unskilled enough to beat that game regularly

It really depends on how deep stacks are at the table, but I generally disagree with the conventional wisdom that 1/2 games are unbeatable due to rake. A) I think there is plenty of money to be made at 1/2, even with a 10% rake w/ a $5 cap. However, effective stacks need to be at 100bbs for my qualification to this statement. Apparently, Commerce or Bike (I'm from the East coast, this is just what I hear) was spreading a 2/5 game with $300 cap, and a hourly rake, rather than pot. That game, IMO is unbeatable, due to the lack of edge for skilled players playing shallow + timed rake. However, at my regular casino (Parx in philly), the 1/2 game usually has most players w/ minimum 100bb, and is 10% 5. I think players are unskilled enough to beat that game regularly

Yeah I see quite a few "OMG such and such is unbeatable" over at 2p2, however I think that site is mainly garbage.

Granted I play 1/3 (so it's slightly bigger then 1/2) but I have the same rake. It's 10% up to 5+1 for the BBJ. My hourly has never suffered as a result of rake, or tipping (I toss dealers a buck for most pots, 2 for big ones, and I tossed a dealer a 5 when I won a 400bb pot).

If your winrate is so small that rake or tipping are cutting into it substantially, there's probably some kind of leak. Granted my winrate of the summer has been absolutely abysmal (half of last years) at around 4bb/hr, but I'd hardly say that rake/tips are substantially effecting it.

$1/$2 can definitely be beat for sure. The rake sucks but limping and seeing pots in position allow you to play tons of hands vs the fish. No real need to tighten up thanks to that. You can play pretty straight forward and your opponents will make huge mistakes. Since SPR is very small due to large pf raises you will need to win at showdown more often which will cause for large swings (see my post about llsnl red lines). I am currently beating a $1/$2 game for $22/hour with a 10% rake $5 max and jackpot. It can definitely be done.

so when is limping live a good idea?
I play micro online (i'm in the UK) and started playing live again recently, the £1/1 level. rake is 10% capped at £5 which is of course relatively higher than the 1/2 where it's also capped at 5, but i'm not rolled for that yet.
anyways, so i've been playing extremely tight and wonder where i can find any general live advice, given i've "learned" poker online (though i still suck at it). any links, literature etc online?

i guess open limping is never a good idea, so limping behind 1 or 2 limpers might be OK, but are we then limp/calling or limp/folding to raises?
i basically almost never limp/call unless i can see it going at least 3 or 4 way postflop.

so when is limping live a good idea?
I play micro online (i'm in the UK) and started playing live again recently, the £1/1 level. rake is 10% capped at £5 which is of course relatively higher than the 1/2 where it's also capped at 5, but i'm not rolled for that yet.
anyways, so i've been playing extremely tight and wonder where i can find any general live advice, given i've "learned" poker online (though i still suck at it). any links, literature etc online?

i guess open limping is never a good idea, so limping behind 1 or 2 limpers might be OK, but are we then limp/calling or limp/folding to raises?
i basically almost never limp/call unless i can see it going at least 3 or 4 way postflop.

Limping live is game dependent. You want to be doing it: 1. with hands that have good implied odds 2. when there are weak/passive villains that are unlikely to bluff you but will give you value when you hit 3. when you are in position.

Also, for live material check out Poker With Your Pants On or the Deuce Plays Podcast, both here on DC. The podcast used to be free and there are over 100 free episodes available. New stuff is a subscription. Finally, Crush Live Poker is really good, but it's not affiliated with DC. And if you ask, yea, I'm a big Bart Hanson fan - definitely one of the better people regularly talking live poker strategy right now.

When you are playing games where nobody is raising whatsoever you can limp all you want
There is nothing wrong with limping even in ep in extremely passice games. If players begin to play more aggressively then limping becomes bad

When you are playing games where nobody is raising whatsoever you can limp all you want
There is nothing wrong with limping even in ep in extremely passice games

I wouldn't say there is nothing wrong with limping EP. I think limping UTG with AA is pretty wrong, even if every player at the table will instafold to a raise, or better yet, call a 10BB raise.

I think the comment earlier about depth of money is spot on, with respect to open limping. I'm slightly more willing to open limp with quality connectors and small pairs if there is a lot of money in stacks to gamble with.

Limping after is more a function of position and hand strength for me, assuming a passive and predictable table.

When you are playing games where nobody is raising whatsoever you can limp all you want
There is nothing wrong with limping even in ep in extremely passice games. If players begin to play more aggressively then limping becomes bad

True. .but if someone is raising a lot and lots of players are calling behind him then limp/reraising can be very good.