[krimson]

I think aces are clean pretty often. AK/KK will often cap pre-flop, and A5/A2 is unlikely to have raised pre-flop.

If he did get here with AK, I think he would have taken a stronger line on the flop and c/r'd us, risking it getting checked through due to the strength of his hand. The fact that he is leading into our PFR makes me think he has a more questionable hand, and is testing the waters. Such as a weaker K like KQ/KJ or a PP like 88-JJ.

Your definitely correct about the backdoor gutshots being questionable as outs, as they leave us in a tricky situation. Basically, if we did manage to pick up a gutshot on the turn, I think we have 7-8 outs to draw to. (4 clean straight outs, 2-3 for the ace and 1-2 for the Q). We'll get about 1:5 on a call so it's definitely razor thin, but I think it can be done profitably.

The odds are razor thin, but you'll find every so often that villian was completely full of [censored], and will check the river allowing you to check behind and showdown the winner.