How to play premium hands UTG

[Bacon]

Hi,

If you are dealt a premium hand in UTG, are you one to just call, or do you raise? How much?

I'm talking AA, AK, KK, QQ.

Most of the time, I call (unless I'm short stacked).

Do you find whenever you raise UTG, people usually moan and make comments? I like to think that my raise has probably made their decision easier.

[bennymacca]

i would probably raise it utg, because there is nothing worse than someone on the button calling with A2 and hitting his A.

in late position, you know how many ppl are in the hand. if there is only 1 or 2 others, then calling would be ok, but if there are 5, i will still raise it.

gotta weed out the players that are gonna call with 57, but not call a raise with it.

[mr_niceguy_1979]

Depending on the point in the tournament, I would usually 2xBB raise. I learnt my lesson by just calling with KK at state finals and got burnt by A3 hitting trips on the flop.

[Bacon]

So just calling is obviously wrong then

I can't remember the last time I had these hand UTG mind you.

[mr_niceguy_1979]

So just calling is obviously wrong then

I can't remember the last time I had these hand UTG mind you.

I wouldn't say it's wrong, it's just a different strategy. Sometimes just calling can trap someone to think you've got a less than premium hand and you'll get more callers (which is what I thought at state finals).

One thing to remember is that 1 caller of your 2xBB raise is a bigger pot than if you get 3 callers for your call. I guess that is why you want to raise rather than flat call cause you have less people in the pot for the same amount or more

[Scotty]

No problem with limping UTG with these hands - as long as you're prepared for four people to limp in behind you, have position on you, decrease your chances of winning the hand and possibly lose your stack if you aren't good enough to fold it later on ...

[muzzington]

Call UTG if you're hoping someone in front of you raises.

[stevo]

Call UTG if you're hoping someone in front of you raises.

Agree, the only time I would call UTG with a premium hand is if the table had been playing fairly aggressive previously with plenty of pre-flop raises, if however it had been calling stations with 4 or more hands playing and no one really raising pre-flop then i would definitely be raising. You only want 1 or 2 other hands in the pot for these hands to pay off otherwise someone is bound to hit the flop and put you in a messy situation.

[maccatak11]

this is npl, calling UTG with a monster is simply looking for trouble.
firstly, the chances of someone else raising pre-flop and setting themselves up to be re-raised is very low and secondly, how many times have you been in a hand where 6 or more ppl see a flop - many in the venue i play at.

I always raise 3 or more times the big blind UTG with premium. From my experience you are still likely to get one or two callers and there is at least as much in the pot as if u min raise or call and are playing againt 5 or more.

In short, limping with premium UTG means you will likely have similar money in the pot, but your playing against 2 instead of 6 hands. its a simple decision really.


And before people reply and say its bad strategy to always raise a certain amount in a certain position with certain hand and that people will read you, just think about exactly how many times ppl are actually in this situation when it actually makes it to a showdown and the same few people are on your table? a handful of times per season.

in short, get some guts and raise it. Slow playing should be saved for the nuts (or close to it) post flop or when a table is short handed, e.g. final 2-4 players.

[AceLosesKing]

Not raising with a premium hand, in UTG, while playing NPL, is like standing up and telling the table they can take your chips while you go the toilet.

Same effect.