[Guruman]

I think that there are a couple of universally applicable generalizations that we can make here to help us with this decision.

first, most of the limpers very likely have drawing hands like AXs, suited connectors, or mid-to-weak PPs.

how does our offsuit ace play as compared to that range? Well if the kicker is of value they play pretty well, since we'll dominate the other aces, and have overs to lots of the connectors and pairs. we obviously want to raise it up with a decent ace if we're reasonably sure that one or two of the limpers have a worse one.

the only real concern here is the fact that we have poor position and will be unable to protect a pot from draws.

when we consider this though, we should take a look at classical fullring play to be our guide on the flop.

if we raise it up with A9 and the flop comes 5[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], we have the opportunity to play correctly or to really foul things up in a 12sb pot. when the sb checks, we should probably check along - looking to raise a late position bet, or just call if a bet comes from utg or mp and gets called around.

the key to profitably raising a hand like this pf is resisting the urge to spew bets "protecting" on the flop.

I think lots of big aces have all kinds of equity vs a typical limping range, and should be pushed there accordingly. The times we flop tptk and collect bets from the drawers pays off dramatically on the times they miss, while costing less when they hit. the times we take a raggy or highcarded board down UI also tend to make it worth the risk.

the real key is flop play.