I seem to pick up AA in middle to late postion when it has been folded round to me. I will often raise although if it has been folded round to me and the remaining players are tight i can be pretty sure that my raise is going to make them lay their cards down, especially tight blind players.

This will result in me picking up the blinds usually which isn't ideal when holding AA.

My other option is to limp in either hoping for a raise from LP/ Blinds or allowing others to limp in after me and see a cheap flop. When that happens i am guaranteed to loose a big pot (apart from when i am brave enough to lay down the bullets!!)

The other day after a long period on $25PP i decide to play 1 more hand before retiring to bed....what should i pick up ....AA..

What would you guys prefer to do....raise and pick up a small pot or limp in and run the risk of loosing a big pot??

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (9 handed)

Button ($10.85)
SB ($37.9)
BB ($45.5)
UTG ($25.55)
UTG+1 ($29)
MP1 ($26.85)
MP2 ($19.65)
Hero ($34.55)
CO ($56.72)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with , . SB posts a blind of $0.1.
4 folds, Hero calls $0.25, CO calls $0.25, 2 folds, BB checks.

Flop: ($0.85) , , (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1, CO raises to $4, BB folds, Hero calls $3.

Turn: ($8.85) (2 players)
Hero raises $10.00, CO calls $10.00.

River: ($28.85)
Hero checks, CO raises to $30.00, Hero calls $20.30 (ALL-IN)


Final Pot: $71.15

Results in white below:
Hero has Ah Ad (one pair, aces).
CO has 8h Jh (straight, queen high).
Outcome: CO wins $71.15.

Admittedly i should have maybe laid down the hand on the flop....but i assumed he was either on a str8 or flush draw going by his previos betting patterns (using a reraise as a semi bluff defence tactic) and decided i would make him pay to see the river if a scare card didnt fall on the turn.

Calling behind me still gave me the impression he was willing to pay for the draw and when he missed again i decided to check the river in case he had a big hand.......the $30 bet on the river screamed set or str8 but i just couldn't see it from this player......needless to say i left the table disgruntled and annoyed at my own play....ignoring all the rules i have learnt.

Looking at my stats in PT i have laid AA down twice out of 41 holdings......both on river.....if only i had done the same here!!!!!

I do not like to limp with AA except once in a while from early position on an aggressive table where I am likely to have a chance to reraise. I just don't do it. If you are playing at a table where players are playing that tight where they are folding to late position raises after it's folded to the raiser then I would find a new table. I raise pretty often preflop, ESPECIALLY when it's folded to me. That way players start to think I am stealing in those situations and then they want to pick me off b/c they think I am stealing.

Always raise unless in EP and going for a limp-re-raise. I've had AA 7 times the last two days and I'm actually showing a loss of 1.65bb/hand for this period because I lost twice (out drawn one time, folded the other) and haven't gotten any good action on the other 5. Still, it's MUCH Better to get the blinds than to be up against a totally random hand and pay off some dirty two-pair.

AA's real strength is against other strong hands like JJ-KK and AK, if nobody got dealt one of those hands when you got AA you're better off getting the blinds than playing it against 93o where you can only lose.