[BoxTree]

Some background:

I play 400 NL live at Commerce. I'm a tight player. I'm also somewhat new to NL ring games. So I use the words "never" and "always" a lot. That's okay for now because that's actually how I play and how I intend to play until I gain more experience in this game. In early position, I'm extremely tight. I never raise AK in EP. I never raise JJ-77 in EP. I sometimes raise QQ. I almost always raise AA/KK.

Against observant players, this seems like suicide since they'll always know what I have. Against players who aren't paying attention, I'm still not that excited.

Basically, I'm a big believer that AA/KK are strongest when they get all of the chips in preflop (or enough chips in preflop that you're going to push on any flop). If I raise preflop and get called in at least one place, I now have to play a relatively large pot OOP, and for much of the hand, I'll have no idea where I am. A good, tricky player may try to make a move on me. A crappier player may have two-pair or better. A really crappy player with a lot of chips may overplay his TPTK, and then I have the unpleasant dilemma of figuring out if he has TPTK or a hand that's really worth pushing (top two, a set, etc.). All in all, a preflop raise in EP with AA/KK just seems to bloat the pot, open up bluffing opportunities for my opponents, and basically make my life miserable.

On the other hand, there's limping. If I limp, get raised anywhere, I'll put in a re-raise and either take down a small but not insignficant pot (probably somewhere between 5 and 15 big blinds depending on number of cold-callers/limpers), or I'll get called, in which case the pot will generally be so big relative to the stacks that I'll push any flop. If I limp and no one raises, then I get to play a small pot OOP. That's fine with me. I stand to lose a very small pot or win a medium-sized one. Occasionally, I'll get involved in a large pot, but that will usually happen only if I end up with a monster (flopping the nut flush draw with aces or hitting a set against someone who has a good ace or king).

So, given that I raise so rarely in EP, I really think that limping (with the intent of reraising) as a DEFAULT play should work well in my games. It's true that my games are not generally aggressive enough that I can plan on getting in a preflop reraise. But right now, I'm not convinced that I'm really giving up much by limping and having a five, six, or seven-way flop. The players at my table are generally bad, but they're not idiots. After a few orbits, it becomes quite obvious to most players at the table that I'm tighter than most. If I choose to raise with these hands, I'll often win the blinds. That sucks. Wouldn't it be better to try a line that allows me to build a huge, HU, preflop pot? And am I really giving up that much if I don't get to limp-reraise? Remember, I'll simply take down the blinds a large portion of the time that I raise in EP.

Am I missing something here?

A few additional considerations: I'm relatively new to NL ring games, so I don't mix up my play very much. Currently, I'm very predictable. But until the regulars get to know me better (and until I become more comfortable with this game), I don't mind being predictable. I'm still in the early learning phases of this game. As time goes on, I'm sure I'll have to mix things up by occasionally raising in all positions with a reasonable range of hands. But not right now.

So, all things considered, is my plan of limping in EP with AA/KK suicide, slightly -EV, slightly +EV, or the best thing I can do right now?

Please keep in mind that I play 400 NL LIVE at COMMERCE. Most games are generally passive preflop with one or two players who like to put in reasonable preflop raises about 15% of the time (so, about 1 in 4 hands are raised preflop). Most unraised pots are four, five, or six way. Most raised pots are uncontested, HU, or 3-way (occasionally four-way). The same players who like to raise preflop are the ones who are most likely to launch a bluff on a later street.

Any thoughts are appreciated.