[bigt439]

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I always raise here preflop.

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This leaves you in a very awkward spot when you miss. I think raising preflop is a huge mistake.

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First of all, you don't always have to see the flop that way. Second, sometimes you see the flop with position and heads up, whis is nice. Third, it's not awkward when you miss, you can usually just check/fold. Fourth, not raising puts you in an awkward situation if you hit.

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Your first point is your most valid one as it would be your desired scenario, but I don't think it happens all that often unless your raise is fairly large (see point 3 for the problems with this). Your second one happens very rarely so its not a huge factor. Your third point is flawed because this happens alot and if you have to check fold whenever this happens you've just pissed away a decent portion of your stack. Your fourth point is just not true if you can play it properly. In fact your hand is nicely disguised to pick up a lot of chips from worse aces and such. I think the pros of taking a cheap flop outweigh those of trying to muscle the pot, and I'd be surprised if most experience posters didn't agree.