Re: AA in tight Limit HE
Ah this is a good question, and one that gets debated quite a bit (the old "let them in" vs "make them pay" discussion.) There are definitely merits to both concepts, and I think individual situations dictate which play is best.
Since AA is the best hand preflop, many people like to raise to exploit its edge in equity by getting as much money in the pot while in the lead.
On the other hand, with limping you encourage others to call behind with worse hands. This also exploits your equity edge, but it does not make your opponents pay the maximum.
By raising you will definitely improve your odds of winning the pot, because as more people continue in the hand, your chances to win decreases. However with aces, you have an edge in equity no matter if you get one or ten callers, and thus you'll win more than your fair share either way. Limping encourages bigger pots that you win less often, but you win larger pots when you do. It's a trade off.
Either raising or limping will be positive EV for you. However, based on game conditions, (your image, the tightness of the blinds and other players etc.) one of them will have a greater EV than the other.
Most of the time I think you should raise with aces preflop, but at the particularly tight table, limping is a fine play. Plus, you gain the benefit of adding some deception to your game should you showdown the hand. This could be exploited later.
To make a long story short, you've got a hand that has definite positive EV, no matter what you do preflop (god forbid you fold). So your biggest worry is maximizing your EV here. Such a nice worry to have. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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