question When do you stop limping and just raise preflop?

Been trying to tighten up my card game a bit lately and this is the spot I keep getting stuck on... those hands that feel playable but not exactly premium. Suited connectors, small pairs, the sort of stuff that looks alright in late position and then suddenly you’re in a weird pot wondering why you bothered.

I keep hearing people say the biggest jump is just sorting your preflop decisions first, which yeah, fair enough, but I’m curious what that actually looked like for you blokes once it started clicking. Was it learning proper opening ranges, folding more out of early position, being less cute with limps, or something else entirely?

Also keen to hear if your approach changes heaps between cash games and tourneys. I reckon I play way too many middling hands when the table’s passive, then get punished the second someone wakes up with a 3-bet. Bloody annoying because it feels fine for half an arvo and then one bad spot undoes it.

If you had to give one simple adjustment that genuinely helped your results, what was it? Nothing super theory-heavy unless you want to chuck it in, just the stuff that made you go ohhhh right, I’ve been mucking this up the whole time.

what finally fixed it for me was getting way more honest about position. i used to convince myself those pretty little suited hands were fine from early seats, then spend the whole hand lost. now if im first in and the hand feels like a maybe, it's usually just a fold. late position is where i loosen up a bit. saved me heaps of those dumb second-best spots.