[Evan]

James, I think raising preflop is absolutely maniacal. I can't even believe you'd suggest that. A2o, out of position, in what's going to be at least a 3 way pot against loose players...wow, dude.

Honeybadger, I think your confusion is part of the reason my line works. A lot of the time when someone you think is good does something weird looking there's a tendency to not trust them/think they're trying to outplay you. Combine that with the fact that no one wants to have to come back to 2+2 and read about getting bluffed by another poster, you'll get some calls doing stuff like this that you might not normally get, maybe from something like a 7. Also, if I check raise the flop and he has a draw I might really be screwing myself if he decides to play it aggressively. I think there's a lot to be said for controlling the number of bets that can go into the pot when you're out of position.