Is AA2 really a pushing hand (O8)

[GooperMC]

[Felonius_Monk]

Pushing and pulling CAN be a bit of a simplistic concept in my view but usually it's a sensible way to look at things. Broadly, I'd say that with AA2 you'll sometimes not be a big favourite, BUT it's always good to raise preflop wherever possible because whether you push OR pull you're doing well because it's a hand that plays fine in either situation. My feeling is that you simply want more money in the pot! If you try to "Push", say, by raising from MP, and end up getting 4 callers along with you, well, so what? You raised the playing field with a strong hand that's nigh on certain to be a money favourite in that spot, and so even inadvertantly "Pulling" and generating a big pot here is no disaster. The argument about bringing more money in and thus giving better implied odds for people to chase draws down the line is, in my book, a bit spurious - they may have good implied odds, but that's jam tomorrow - by betting early on you make them pay for that TODAY.

The only time I don't raise AA2 from any position in limit is when someone far away on my left is going to make that raise for me, and I can put in three bets on the way round. Even then I often raise and hope to cap it on the return. I just don't see how getting money in with this hand can ever be a bad thing, and nothing I've read thus far has convinced me otherwise, though I accept it's always possible to be wrong about these things!

Monk
xxxxx

[GooperMC]

Monk your explanation makes a lot of sense. Who cares as long as you get tons of money in the middle!