AXs before a raise?

[krishanleong]

How many players would have to be in the pot before you called a raise preflop with AX suited? I'm tempted all the time but I let it go when less than 5 people are in. Does that sound about right or should I be more selective? I play it for flush/2 pair only.

Would you ever play this heads up?

Thanks!

[HajiShirazu]

I would need a lot of callers, probably at least 4 or 5 before I would cold call a raise with a suited ace. Any sort of weak ace is a really poor hand to call a raise with. If you are in the BB, and a few have called, you call just like you would with any other suited hand. Then you just play it like any other suited hand, except you have to use your postflop skill to determine whether you are good when the ace flops (which often will be good.)
Heads up against a possible steal, a suited ace is a very strong hand to defend with and even reraise with.