Sorry I know this is tldr, but I have a lot to say

What is it about open limping that is "bad"? I would like to actually challenge the idea that it is bad and maybe generate some good discussion. I understand that if we don't want to try to balance multiple bet sizings preflop (to include limping) then it makes more sense to throw everything we are going to play into one opening size (which may slightly vary depending on position) so that we don't give away information. BUT what if we took our normal opening range and with some frequency used that same exact range to open limp with.

So I can think of a few things that happen in theory: 1) we lose value from the top of our range in what would have been a single raised pot, but instead turns into a limped pot 2) we allow the blinds to cheaply realize their equity by seeing flops -- and there are probably more negative effects -- BUT 3) we give ourselves the opportunity to develop a limp/raise or call it a limp/3b range from all positions, something that would otherwise be impossible from EP 4) it's weird and "universally fishy" and would likely cause opponents to badly misinterpret our actual range 5) it forces the bb to play a pot out of position with the bottom X% that otherwise would have folded to an open 6) it gives us the ability to limp/call with a range that is not capped and we can then choose to develop a flop donking range since there is actually no range advantage on any board texture assuming our limp/call range is = villain's raise over our limp range, and this fact in the beginning will be known to only hero 7) once opponents catch on to our actual limping range they will be less likely to pounce on it as they will face a mixture of limp/raises and stronger than normal limp/calls, this in turn will in theory allow hero to limp even wider to include some speculative hands that might otherwise make for -EV opens 8) lastly for online players it will destroy the vpip/pfr stats in a way that will make for some head scratching from villains -- and there are probably more benefits than this --