Was in a home game and had an argument with two of the guys playing. I had pkt aces and i end up having them crack after i raised 5x the bb and forced another player all-in with AQ and he hit trips on the board. They proceeded to tell me you should limp with those hands sometimes but i disagree, my reason for raising with those types of hands is to get my opponents who are holding marginal hands to fold so i would be 5 handed with my aces and get them crack by a low two pair or a 7 high straight or something ridiculous.
What do you guys think?, should u ever limp with pockets (pocket queens and up)
How to play big pockets really depends on the state of the game.
UTG , with pocket AA do I really want to be raising in a wild game ? You are pretty sure that at least 1 person is going to throw in a raise, and you can come over the top with AA, KK. Two big advantages here;
1) You pick up the dead money.
2) Sometimes this looks like a move, and you land up getting a caller or two.
Are you deep or short stacked ? If you are deep stacked (and the callers too), the game really changes into an implied
odds game. Players will call you with a marginal hand, hoping to hit the flop hard, or find a big draw. They know that 2 pair is probably gold, or a pair and a flush draw etc etc. They are then hoping to empty you, as you over commit with your top pair.
In a deep stacked game you have to raise with a range of hands, and keep your raises pretty constant. You don't want to raise to much with a big pocket pair, because you are probably telling observant players what you have. But if you raise similar for 66 all the way to AA and AK and AQ/AJ suited and maybe suited connectors in late position, it disguises your range. This enables you to be paid off when you hit it big !
I don't think limping with a big pocket pair is a crime. If you do it, and you don't get a chance to make a preflop reraise, then don't fall in love with it. You get big action after the flop, then let it go. If you can try and see the river as cheap as possible. If you can't , bail out !
