[ssmallz]

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You need to get rid of the "call" mentality. Good players almost never call preflop raises with any hand. You generally raise or fold. The only exceptions are hands that play well in multi-way pots, maybe KQs or AJs. Any other hand you would consider playing against a raise when nobody else has called before you is a re-raise. Even against the loose retard, raise or fold. You don't want to pay two bets to play AJ in a multi-way pot.

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extremely insightful, many thanks.

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Post flop in a heads up pot:

Let's say that, for what ever reason, you find yourself in with an Ace and a not so great kicker. An ace flops and your opponent bets. What do you do?

There are two different ways to handle this. One way is to just call all the way down. The other way is to raise them on the flop. If they play back at you again, assume you are outkicked and throw it away. Each method has pluses and minuses.

Against aggressive opponents who will make continuation bets and not stop I may check call to the end. This keeps them betting if they have another big pocket pair. They often assume you will play back at them with any ace and will thus keep betting if you are just calling. But paying off all the way with a bad ace can be expensive. Raising on the flop and folding if they play back is cheaper, but you risk getting bluffed off of the best hand.

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Calling down is the superior play most of the time. There is very little benefit to raising at any point in the hand and most of the time it just leads to problems and you risk letting yourself get outplayed. Calldown in position and bet if checked to.

As to AJo in the bb, pretty easy call against an UTG if he's fairly aggro (99+, ATs+, AJo+, KQs+) if he's tight and will not raise the lower pairs and weaker Axs then you should toss it. The key to playing this hand is to not lose to much when your behind while letting him bluff or bet a worse hand when ahead. You can accomplish this by cc'ing the whole way down.