[sean c]

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But without a raise, I get to play a lot of hands against AJ or KT, or worse in them that would have folded to a raise. If I hit the flop, they will never fold and will call me to the river.

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I think this is the main problem with not raising AK pre flop. Most bad players do call raises with these types of hands and still pay off to the river even tag players defend their blinds with these same types of hands and pay off to the river even over playing their hands sometimes. I am not saying deception and mixing up your play isn't part of the game but it tends to be lost on the players that i play against at the party 2/4 and i would assume the same goes for the lower limits. I think in short all you are really doing by not raising AK pre flop is costing yourself money by missing bets.

Also raising allows you to take the lead in the hand and win many pots unimproved so even in tight games raising is far better than trying to trap.