Big unsuited aces in LP or blinds

[Swax]

I've been playing casino 3/6 for about two months now, and although I'm up I still am not sure that I'm playing optimally for the typical climate of these games - specifically, they make party .5/1 look like a bunch of TAG's, no joke. Generally there are 6 to 7 people to a flop - most people have VPIP's over 60%, open limping and cold calling happen on every hand, and as a result of this, TPTK is very, very rarely good enough to win a hand.

Therefore, my question is what to do with a big unsuited ace on the button. If there's five or so limpers in front of you, and the BB is guaranteed to call with any two, is a hand like AQo, which obviously derives all of its strength from TPTK/TPGK possibilites, definitely a raise here? I'm not really worried about "giving odds" to draws, I mean, the pot's already big enough that everyone's calling to the turn even without a piece of the board in this type of game - but is there really a significant equity edge for a hand with a ceiling of TPTK that's going to be dodging every draw under the sun? Obviously with any suited big ace, I'm raising without a doubt. I'm sure tho offsuit ace probably is a raise - maybe getting my AQo repeatedly crushed is making me need some convincing.

How about if we're in the blinds and everyone limps to us, and now we're out of position as well? Still a good raise? Should it matter whether we have AKo, AQo, or AJo? What about KQo? Obviosuly all figure to be the best hand preflop, but the low ceiling of them just makes me wary.

As for postflop, how should we play them if we hit our TPTK on a relatively coordinated board? Bet/raise/3-bet the flop to try and isolate drawers? Play the flop slowly and spring to life on a safe turn card?

For example, last night I'm in the BB with AQo. Five limp to me, I don't raise, but only because somebody angrily mucked their cards in MP3 and a Q was exposed, weaking my hand significantly. Normally I would. Flop is Ac 8d 9d. I bet out, 3 calls, CO raises, button folds, I 3-bet, 2 calls, one fold, CO caps, 3 calls.

Is this a good line? It turns out that I was up against 67off and QJ of diamonds, so I was probably a sitting duck no matter what I did, but i just don't feel confident about my play. With an average of three or four seeing the flop, I'm 3-betting without abandon here, but when I'm constantly dodging over half the deck to have TPGK hold up, it just doesn't seem right.

Sorry if this is not the clearest question - but it seems that all of my big losses on this type of game are with offsuit broadway that hits and gets caught. Any advice would be excellent.

This forum is, I believe, for microlimit games at online casinos, your post should probably go in the B&M forum. However:

First, have you read Small Stakes Hold 'Em? It pretty much ought to be the bible for the types of games you're playing in, it was written specifically for loose low limit games such as the type you're playing. SSHE recommends raising AK-AJ and KQ from the button, but not AJ or KQ from the blinds.

I believe that top pair, top kicker actually wins more often than you realize. Also, if you have top pair, top kicker, and 4 other players have bottom or middle pair with a weak kicker, they may stay in until the turn or river hoping to improve, and perhaps they will improve. However, your odds of improving to 2 pairs, a set, or a full house, are just as good as theirs, and your improved hand will be higher than theirs.

If there are 5 players in the flop with you and your chance of winning is greater than 1 in 6, you can bet for value. This is the same reason why you raise with AK from late position or the blinds before the flop. While it may feel like someone always gets a straight or a flush, they don't, and your AK offsuit has a significantly greater chance of winning than the random cards others will be playing, so you raise for value.

[Swax]

Chris -

The B&M forums seem to be more about the cardroom environment and etiquette than they are hand analysis. I suppose I could have posted this in small stakes, but I play microlimits online, and I think that 3/6 B&M plays almost identical to them (if a bit fishier), which is why I posted here. I should have prefaced my post with that.

Yeah, I've read SSHE a few times (and re-read it specifically for preparation for live play). And I know that SSHE specifically addresses the relative weakness of offsuit cards in multiway pots. I've never realized how important that inferiority was until these games.

Perhaps it's the difference in stakes - not that 3/6 is a big deal, but compared to .5/1 or 1/2 online it's a significant increase, perhaps maybe that's factoring in to my reluctance to push a smaller edge. Plus, last night, the 4 hands in which I had either AQo or AJo cost me about half of the $120 I bought in with, and I flopped top pair all four times!

How about the situation where I flop top pair and the board is at least moderately coordinated (two of one suit, minor straight possibilities - something like Ad 6c 7d)? What's the best line here? Obviously we're betting out from the blinds - if someone raises and we guess that they're on a draw, do we three bet? Call and lead a safe turn card?

How about from later positions? If someone bets into us, we raise I take it? Raise again with any blank on the turn?