[Skuzzy]

I can see your point, and respect it but....

Just when do you start to give it value and see it moving into the +EV column?

What hands will you raise UTG or in EP with?

I've seen discussions lately advocating limping QQ, AK upfront. This seems to give up too much primarily because you then have to limp in AA and KK or raise with random hands to insure your big hands are not easily readable. why not just play a reasonable range of hand up front for a raise?

Playing AQ up front for a raise gets my AA, KK and AK hands called (at least sometimes). AQ may not be gold but it has some potential, and given the relatively small group of hands it belongs to that I do raise up front it's still a hard hand for anyone to play against without hitting a monster. Against monsters AA is a bigger risk than AQ. To some extent, whereas AA is good for winning a small pot or losing a big one, AQ is good for winning a small pot period.

How far off the mark am I with this thinking?