Hey, I was just recently in Vegas and played a lot of 2-4 lmit hold'em. In general the games were very loose-passive. While this was very profitable if posed an interesing dilemma for me. What to do with premium hands in late position. For example say you pick up AA on the button. By the time it gets to you there are usually 3-4 limpers in the pot already, and nobody (I mean NOBODY) is folding for an extra 2$. So my question is whether it is still worth raising these hands. If you do, you are bound to get about 5-6 callers total for about 4$, and this gives a lot of people odds to keep chasing their draws, on the flop and after it. Is it better to wait until the flop or the turn to raise it? I was still raising these hands from early position because people people would fold for having to call 2 bets cold, but just wondering what the best way to play these hands is in late position? Any thoughts are appreciated.

Brett,
there are many more qualified people on the forum to answer this question than me, but here's my shot. If i'm not right we'll both learn a thing or two...

In you're example: AA you're holding the best hand in holdem. Get as much money in the pot as you can, you stand to win a good % of the time with this hand. I'm not folding unless the flop is well coordinated and there is a lot of action to me.

If you need to muck the hand for any reason it will usually only cost you 3-4 small bets (raise preflop 2 small bets, a bet or raise on the flop 1-2 small bets) and when you do take a nice multiway pot with the hand you'll more than make this back.

with KK i'll probably play almost the same as AA although an A on the flop or turn would worry me in a loose passive game.

QQ and JJ, still both premium hands but a lot easier to get away from. In a 5 or 6 way pot, i would be looking to hit my set on the turn if there were more than a couple of callers to a flop bet or raise, otherwise i would be slamming the brakes on.

I hope this isn't too far off the mark, i like to play my premium hands hard and fast as they don't come along too often, and some of the more experienced guys can amend it or add to it.

Good luck.

Raise it -- no question. When you own the largest share of the pot preflop, you should generally try to get as much money in as possible. Especially in low limit hold 'em, where people will chase their draws anyway, you want to charge as much as possible. Just be prepared to lay it down more often against 4-5 opponents than you would against 2-3.

There are certain instances on the flop, when the bettor is to your right, that it's best to wait until the turn to raise, but you're not giving up much by not worrying about them.