50NL players - Fix my AQo (full ring)

[RED FACE]

After more than 13K hands I'm loosing .5 PTBB/hand. I play it very much like AKo. Raise 5xbb pre utg same in later position with 2 limpers and might bet 6xbb with 3 limpers ahead of me. If there is like 5 limpers ahead and I'm in late position I chicken out and limp. I fold to all reraises.

On the flop, if I miss, I often(but not always) continue bet, say, usually against 1 or 2 opponents. This decision is based on my opponents and the cards on the flop. If I hit I may sp in position vs 1 on an uncoord board but generally I'm betting my top pair. I don't loose my stack w top pair. If I get a call from a player worthy of respect I can slow down and check fold.

So I guess I'm way too agg but in what ways should I slow down?

thanks for any suggestions

[Isura]

Try tightening up in early position. I'm pretty sure most of your money is being lost playing raised pots out of position. And don't fold in late position with AQ and 5 limpers, straights and trips are very good hands with AQ.

[TheRegulat0r]

I open to 4bb. After 1-2 limpers I make it 6-7 bb. After 3-4 I make it 8-10 bb.

Thinning the field pretty substantially pre-flop makes continuation betting on the missed flops a lot more profitable.

[Bukem_]

Raising 5bb UTG is with aq is pretty bad. You better play really well post flop to be pumping up pots that are gonna go multiway.

[TheRegulat0r]

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Raising 5bb UTG is with aq is pretty bad. You better play really well post flop to be pumping up pots that are gonna go multiway.

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So you limp AQo utg? minraise? fold? None of these seem appealing at all.

[Bukem_]

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So you limp AQo utg? minraise? fold? None of these seem appealing at all.

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I would never minraise aq UTG. Depending on the table I raise my standard opening, limp, or fold.

Raising 5xbb seems anything but appealing to me at full table.

[Voltron87]

play 6max, there you can raise AQo 4bb to youre hearts delight.

[soah]

AQo UTG at a full table is not a very strong hand.

You say you don't go broke with top pair and check/fold against resistance from a good player. So what is your plan for making money with this hand? You win if everyone folds, otherwise you give up.... you can make people fold with any two cards, so why try it with a hand which has little ability to make a near-nut hand? I'd rather raise 65s UTG under those conditions... at least that way when I can't bluff my way through the hand, I will at least occassionally hit a disguised hand that can bust someone's set.

[Skuzzy]

I can see your point, and respect it but....

Just when do you start to give it value and see it moving into the +EV column?

What hands will you raise UTG or in EP with?

I've seen discussions lately advocating limping QQ, AK upfront. This seems to give up too much primarily because you then have to limp in AA and KK or raise with random hands to insure your big hands are not easily readable. why not just play a reasonable range of hand up front for a raise?

Playing AQ up front for a raise gets my AA, KK and AK hands called (at least sometimes). AQ may not be gold but it has some potential, and given the relatively small group of hands it belongs to that I do raise up front it's still a hard hand for anyone to play against without hitting a monster. Against monsters AA is a bigger risk than AQ. To some extent, whereas AA is good for winning a small pot or losing a big one, AQ is good for winning a small pot period.

How far off the mark am I with this thinking?

[punter11235]

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How far off the mark am I with this thinking?

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Way off. Position is just too important in 100BB stacks NL.
Raising with AK and AQ UTG (especially to 5BB) is -EV. Maybe in some bigger games it changes (cause you may be happy to win the blinds and ppl will give you more credit after the flop) but its certainly bad in SSNL.
Even if your opponents call with pocket pairs and fold everything else you will lose money playing AK for a raise UTG.

Best wishes