[surfdoc]

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Hand 1: "Running a little rough" should have very little to do with whether or not he raises this hand preflop. It sounds crazy, but you have a better chance to narrow down the field by betting on the flop when you've raised preflop and created a bigger pot because they're sure you have the goods since you raised preflop. I think not raising preflop with, say A-Ts is a big mistake; with A-9s slightly less so; and with A-8s still -EV.

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Well, I think that we may have to disagree here. I am not sure if you are saying that raising here with A8s is clearly the superior play preflop. I am not arguing that you should pass up on +EV spots. I am just simply saying that there are some variance lowering plays that can be mixed in when the edge is so razor thin that it might not exist. I also know for a fact that the OP tends to play too aggressively so I was trying to let him know that he can pull his foot off the gas from time to time. Finally, I think that hero (admittedly) has a bit of work to do on his post flop play and for that reason he may be better off sneaking into some pots cheaply and playing smaller pots with marginal holdings.

As far as you getting to "narrow down the field by betting on the flop" I say that is very debatable as well. I don't think you have much fold equity in these lower limit games and you have bloated the pot where it is correct for them to peel with 5 out hands and overcard stuff on many boards. The fact that hero raised preflop may make it easier to represent a hand on certain boards but it can actually be harder on others. He can represent on the flop after limping just as easily since it is so common for the pfr to con-bet and this really only says "I was the pfr so I bet" as compared to when he bets the flop after limping the message is "I hit the board." I seriously doubt that these guys assume he "has the goods" just because he raised preflop.