[einbert]

You have to play poker after the flop, but you do have position and you will frequently have the best hand going into the flop. In addition, you will outflop a hand like AQ (two overs) more than two thirds of the time, and the times that you both hit the flop (you make a set and they make top pair) or you make a set versus an overpair you _will_ win big pots most likely.

Tough situations happen postflop, if you want to become a strong player you can't pass up small +EV situations just because the later parts of the hand are difficult to play.