preflop question (sorry) - Axs

[bigalt]

Thus far I've pretty much been limping Axs if I have a limper before me (unless it looks like a good time to isolate) or raising if it's folded to me in MP or LP. This worked pretty well for me in the micros (or at least wasn't a glaring problem) but not so much here at 2/4.

The times I raise it's been profitable, but limping has been almost break even (a little bit negative). Coupled with the times I play it in the blinds it's overall break even.

I suppose I could just not know how to play flush draws, low pairs, and bad kickers postflop, but how does everyone play these hands preflop?

Digging through my PT stats I've found that limping is okay as long as an odd number of people see the flop, bad if there is an even number. I hope that's a sample size issue.

[W. Deranged]

Part of the issue may be that at 2/4 you are more likely to get raised behind you than at the micros, cutting down odds on what is a primarily speculative hand. A possible solution might be to err against limping in middle position or earlier unless there are several limpers already or the players behind you are known to be consistently passive.

[axioma]

you cant possibly have enough hand to determine the profitability of individual hands like you try to here.

i know this is not really the kind of answer you wanted, but it needs to be pointed out.

[bigalt]

i've got 500 instances of axs, which i suppose you're right is pretty slim. but it doesn't stop people from pointing out glaring strategy problems.

[Derek132260]

[ QUOTE ]
Thus far I've pretty much been limping Axs if I have a limper before me (unless it looks like a good time to isolate) or raising if it's folded to me in MP or LP. This worked pretty well for me in the micros (or at least wasn't a glaring problem) but not so much here at 2/4.

The times I raise it's been profitable, but limping has been almost break even (a little bit negative). Coupled with the times I play it in the blinds it's overall break even.

I suppose I could just not know how to play flush draws, low pairs, and bad kickers postflop, but how does everyone play these hands preflop?

Digging through my PT stats I've found that limping is okay as long as an odd number of people see the flop, bad if there is an even number. I hope that's a sample size issue.

[/ QUOTE ]

I had a similar issue moving up. Overall, I've found that even with careful PE table selection -- there are generally just too many PF raises to make playing Axs profitable from early position. By MP, and especially with a couple of limpers...it becomes a much more profitable experience. I'd try cutting that out of your repertoire of hands from EP, and only play it from MP if it's a slightly more passive PF table and you have a couple of limpers ahead of you (or obviously, if you're in MP...esp. 2 or 3) and it's folded to you...then keep raising it.

Then, yeah...make sure you're clear on what you're doing postflop with some of the lesser holdings you can run into with Axs (weak aces, middle or bottom pair, backdoor draws, etc.).

Beyond that, obviously the odd/even number thing has no bearing whatsoever. This is a statistical anomaly which over a large enough sample will correct itself (assuming you don't play the hands differently when there are odd/even numbers of players).