[Go_Blue88]

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UTG limps. Two folds. I raise to $18 on the button with AKo. One blind and UTG call. Flop 655 with two diamonds. I have no diamond. Checked to me. I have not raised preflop much recently and I can't remember raising a limper preflop at this table (I've not been around for terribly long). I don't know if they'll give me enough respect to lay down a pocket pair here, but I think my chances are good enough for a bet to be +EV. So I bet $40. They both call...! The turn is an offsuit king. Checked to me again. They each have 80-90% of a pot-sized bet left in their stacks. No specific reads but they aren't donks.

Another table...

Two limpers, I raise to $25 in the BB with AA. Two players call. Flop is low cards with a flush draw and perhaps some sort of straight draws. I bet $50, one player folds, the next player calls. Turn is a brick. He has just over $100 remaining. My only read on this guy is that recently UTG had raised to $15, I had called, and he called from the BB with QJo, flopped an OESD and won a big pot when he hit on the turn. (And now that I think about it, he must have been involved with another large pot recently to account for his diminished stack size here, but I don't have any idea what happened.)

Should both of these be routine pushes? I just feel like I'm losing money no matter what I do...

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Hand 2 is a very easy push.

Hand 1 really depends on the hand range you assign UTG and the BB based on your past history with them. I guess against a standard opponent I can attempt to do this:

UTG,BB--75, 65, A5s, 66, 55, 77-QQ, flush draw

It's strange that they cold call here with the draw out there. So, I'd define one of their ranges to exactly 66,55,65 (if you're behind).

I'd probably push.