[Kuso]

Thanks for the reply, Gomberg. If this ever gets updated, I will emphasize the importance of pre-flop play. It seems to be an important point that your opponent needs to have strength if you hope to get a lot of chips out of him. If there is no strength in opponents' hands, then expectations should be lowered.

I do have a follow-up question, though. If you don't mind disclosing this kind of information, I wonder if you can tell us when you lose the most money wit AA. Here are some possibilities:

1) Lots of chips in pre-flop and you get outdrawn (it happens).

2) A drawing hand that won't fold with -EV hits on the T&R.

3) A better hand takes your when your aces don't improve on the flop. They bet big and you reraise or call.

Did I miss any other relatively common losses of money when holding AA? I guess 1 and 2 are the most common outcomes at your level, but they pay off in the long run. What about 3? I see a lot of beginners call the Villain's big bets (all-in or heading that way) with unimproved aces -- calling it weak-tight if you fold to a big raise or reraise. Yet they often get beat by two pair, trips, or (occassionaly) drawing hands.

This "weak-tight" theory is interesting to me. Why do they think this? On the "Beating Party 10+1" thread, someone said that plenty of people will go all-in with top pair any kicker. In this type of context, is it weak tight to fold unimproved AA? What about in other contexts? At 5/10 NL cash games,I guess you don't get a lot of people going all-in with a smallish top pair (like queens or jacks).

I realize that this is more of a strategy question, but I think it relates a lot to a significant increase in expected losses (thereby negating lots of profits) -- I see a lot of people getting beat and losing a lot of money with situations like 3. Although they call it a bad beat, it doesn't seem like one to me -- I would call it bad play.

Again, any and all comments are welcome.