it seems to me that where the biggest leak in my game is when i have big offsuit cards, even suited i guess...ie. AK, AQ, KQ...etc, and raise it preflop...and miss it. What i used to do anyways was bet out at the flop anyways, especially when im heads up because ace hi is good most of the time at that point anyways...or like if i have position and rags fall, i can bet and then take the free card on the turn...but what if i raise with say AQ or AK after 2 limpers, im on the button...and 3 coordinated rags fall...and one of the limpers leads out...now, from a purely pot odds standpoint you'd have more than enough to call to hit your pair...but ive been folding in this spot...and my line of thinking is that i don't necessarily have 6 outs here...they could have VERY easily played ace rag and hit top pair...thus takin my outs down to 3...or even flopped 2 pair and leading into the raiser so they can 3 bet...i guess the point is that in this instance, you could VERY EASILY be drawing mighty thin...what do you guys think here? how do you guys approach similar problems?

i know one approach here is to raise, to find out where you are at...but in a game with unskilled opponents...you don't find anything out by doing this...all you find out here is: "yup, i was right...he called again and then checked the turn...the same thing he and every other garbage player here as done in this same spot...i guess the problem here is that raising does nothing here really...the guy will simply call your raise then check the turn with any pair...overcards...or set (to check raise) so then when you don't improve on the turn do you fire one more not having gained any information about his hand other than he felt good enough to lead into on the flop...when you were the preflop raiser? In conclusion...raising here really doesn't do much in the way of finding out if youre okay...

that had me rolling

You are playing them correctly it seems. If you are the preflop aggressor, a bet of half pot size on the flop is a good idea if nobody else has lead out. You only have to win that bet 1 time in 3 to make it profitable, and even if you are called, miracles can happen. If the board is coordinated low and you have a bet coming your way, folding is pretty easy unless you have a draw and the odds are there to chase it. I like 2 high cards because of this. Pretty easy to walk away from when your first raise doesn't take it and you get no improvement, or if someone bets into you and you and the odds aren't there for you. Personally, I find AK harder to play when the flop is something like AT8 than when it is rags.

yeah i agree...ak is tough when the board has a few in the playing zone, and a bet about half the pot would be my first instinct probably for nl...how would you approach the same situation in a limit hand?