Silly, silly question but any help is appreciated

So, I have a monster hand....AA and it is preflop. I am the last to act and there are 5 callers. If I bet 5x the BB, it is less than what is already in the pot. So, do I raise the pot or double, triple, etc. the pot? Sometimes I think this poker is waaaaay too complicated. Sorry for the silly question but if I understand the how to play thread, then I should be betting 5x the blind but it doesn't make sense unless the 5x includes the other bets.

This is my first time using this line.... It depends.

How many chips do you have? How many do the other players have? Is this a cash game or tourney? What are the blinds? What is your table image? What is the table image of the other players?

Duffer is right, there isn't enough information in your post to answer you correctly

Stack sizes and positions of each player
what are the blinds 100/200 1000/2000?
how has the table been playing loose and fast or tight enought to squeek

Steve and Duff said it the best....it depends .

But a good rule on raising prf is raise 3-4xBB+1BB per limper.So if there are 5limpers raising 8BB whould sound about right.

Need more info to answer but in general you want to certaintly want to limit your callers to one IMO.

Ignore the bad grammar above, was in middle of a game

^^^ What sindri said, raise it 8-9bb. With that many limpers, you'll generally get a call.

Raising 3-4x the BB +1 for each limper is certainly correct. However, if this will eat up 25% or more of your stack you should push allin.

1)Your hand is so strong that, unless the flop is completely deadly, you're probably going to be allin anyway.

2) It tends to look like a steal, perhaps inducing a call from a weak ace or smaller pocket pair.

3) Even if everyone folds you've collected a nice pot and put limpers on notice they can't limp with impunity.

Really not enough information to be able to answer that question properly-Soooo, as I'm sure you've already heard--It depnds--MTT-SnG-Cash Ring? BUT there are ALOT who would push all in hoping to avoid the donks who are just wanting to see the flop w/mediocre suited connecters or lil' pkt prs.-9-10o and the like!

Thank you so much for the answers and yes, it is extremely helpful. I knew there had to be something wrong with my reading 5x the blind. I wasn't taking into consideration increasing it by the number of callers. To answer your questions, it was a $1/$2 dollar cash game. There was only one player who had a large stack, the rest of us were pretty even although I was down a bit from raising the BB x5 and getting callers who hit. The players were a mix of donk and tight players although I would say most were playing very loose and getting lucky. I know with a quality hand I want at least one caller but not all callers because then it is a race on the board which invariably I lose. I need to adjust my play based on the number of people in the hand preflop. After the flop I typically raise the pot limit especially if I am looking at a set or flush. I have been on a winning streak lately with cash games but it is more based on the players in the game and not so much my hands although going in with AKsuited, AQsuited, and high PPs definitely make it nice. Thank you again for your help. I will adjust my game appropriately and hopefully lose some of those 48o players.

You don't necessarily need to raise to double or triple the pot, but raise enough that will make the players with mediocre hands fold and the players with better hands call. You want people to call, but at the same time you don't want the donkey to limp in with 7 5s and catch his flush or his straight over your aces.

I'd go all in with everything , Balls to the walls show no fear why lose to another player who is not willing to call the all in bet , sure u can get out flopped in lose everything if a weaker hand calls ,but wtf why we gamble for the rush ok well that is what i'd do ,go all in then talk crazy in the chat box regardless what happens

Yeah, I would just go all in unless I had more than 40 BB in my stack. I'm pushin at least 12 x to get rid of people, and going all in post flop unless its really ugly (3 flush or straight cards). I like to make my decisions simple.

Im a rookie..but with 5 callers I say go all in aa...at least one will call being the underdog....but then again...it depends on your stack....low stack will get more callers....med to big stack should isolate your victim...

GL...

5 limpers means the table is loose... or at least they are trying to see cheap flops.. 4-5 BB +1 for each limper seems standard but for a table this loose id make it bigger

Just go all in if there are 5 callers. The table is obviously quite loose going all in, there is a high chance of someone calling with rubbish! But how many times does AA get cracked by rubbish!

RK

Personally I woiuld not want 5 callers, so I definitely would not just call. I would go all-in, the reason being with 5 others, once 1-2 call early, the other may feel the pot odds compel them to call. Going all-in would probably reduce the field by 3-4 others. Just my humble opinion though.

I think a good strategy is to think of your normal opening raise, i.e. 3x or 4x the bb or whatever you prefer, and then add on a big blind for every limper. So if the blinds are 10/20 (normal open 60) and there are 5 limpers (5 x 20 = 100) than you open to 160 (60 + 100).

PUSH, and Push hard, all in, try to get heads up