[Ritter]

I'm dubious about playing A9s UTG at all...

Ed Miller in SSH writes (with regard to A9s - A2s):

"If the game is passive, you can play any of these hands from any position in an unraised pot. In a somewhat aggressive game, play only A9s and A8s from up front, but fold even these if the pots are frequently going to three bets or more."

In HPFAP, Sklansky rates Axs as a group 5 hand and writes:

"Specifically, in early position in a typical hold 'em game, if you are the first one in, or if there is only a call to your right, be prepared to play only those hands in the first four groups. In a loose game, as long as the players are not too aggressive, you can add the Group 5 hands, especially the suited connectors."

Now, I'm not saying it's a CLEAR fold, but Sklansky and Miller seem to be telling us that playing this hand is very dependent on the conditions of the game.

The way I see it, it's the type of hand that can be very difficult to play out of position against an agressive raiser as you indeed went on to find out in this hand.

While it may very well be true that playing this hand up front in this particular game may be nominally profitable, for me personally, it's one of those marginal hands that I'd just as soon stay away from and I think the flop you got shows why.

With all that said, having gotten to this flop, I think part of how you make this hand profitable in the long run is being able to either check/fold or bet/fold the flop.

Miller again from SSH:

"Notwithstanding their high card strength, the smaller suited aces are fundamentally speculative hands, deriving much of their value from their flush-making ability."

You ain't got no spade and the odds that you're up against AK, AQ, AJ, AT in my book, are just too good to continue.