I agree, the problem with a big pair in early pos is that you wont know how many people will play. If I catch a pair of queens in early pos and see a lot of low cards behind I probably will fold. In late pos I know more about if it's gonna be short-handed or multiway and a raise will probably not force those low draws out if they are plenty. I'm sure the game is differently played in high stakes, with few callers it's more like stud high, big pair go up in value. But I assumed the questioner was askin about low level games where the majority of the pots are played multiway,