Starting Hands UTG

[ckessel]

The poker room ev charts show +.03 for AJ UTG and +.06 UTG for KQ. AQ is +.21, showing the massive difference between AQ and AJ. AJ in UTG+1 is +.10 also showing how much it sucks to be UTG.

From my 2/4 and 3/6 perspective:

I tend to raise AJ, but I'm leaning towards just calling. I'm starting to think raising UTG just puts me up against hands I'm an underdog to (pockets and bigger aces). Calling tends to drag in Axo from fish that I dominate. If an AQ later raises it, then at least I've got the dominated hands to help make the subsequent call more profitable/less costly.

KQ I tend to raise a bit more, figuring only AK or AK have me dominated and I'm more likely to have top pair or overcards. AJ often misses and only has A as an overcard. I used to play more cards UTG, but these days I'm aiming for about 10VPIP. UTG is just not a happy place.