should i not raise these?

[ILOVEPOKER929]

Hand 1: Against an unknown I would not raise any street UI.

Hand 2: I dont like raise/folding with this strong of a hand against an unknown. Once you turn a flush I think there are a lot of lines that run close in expection. With no read it is hard for me to discern which one of these lines are best:

1) Bet/call the turn, call the river.

2) Check turn, call river

3) Check turn, Raise/call river

4) Check turn, Raise/fold river.

In general I prefer lines 1) or 2) over lines 3) and 4) but that doesnt mean they are intrinsically best/better. My personal goal in this situation is to see a showdown 100% of the time against an unknown and this inclination has a direct impact on how I approach this situation strategically.

[Heisenb3rg]

hand 1 :
I don't raise, but it probabily doesnt matter.
Most people's instinct here is to see "oh it's a donk it's gotta be a weak hand" which is well... generally right.
But if you look at the range of an UTG raiser, AQ with no heart draw on this board is really nothing to get excited about at all.

Your behind to a LOT of hands.. So it just depends what you think a donk bet means from him..
Against a random it may well be +EV because donk bets are just so often weak. However, as a general strategic decision it's a bad play and one that leaves you very open to exploitation.

Hand 2: Read ILP's post above, couldn't have said it as good myself.

[Municipal Hare]

In hand 2, I think people take one off with stuff like Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], and worse. I expect with a high diamond they either checkraise the flop or donk the turn. So intuitively OP's line appeals to me greatly, and river 3-bets do not factor heavily into my estimation of the play's value.

[Thorv]

I hope ILP wins a lot, because he is my poker authority.