When party $25NL was full of calling stations - i came to the conclusion that preflop raising with high unpaired hands or pocket pairs lower than queens was not worth it. If the fish are going to call the blind, they will call a preflop raise, it doesnt really thin the field. Seeing as when you play against fish more hands are won/lost at showdown, it didnt really make any sense to raise my AK, you cant bluff these fish and most of the time you are going to miss and give up your preflop raise. I used to limp along and if i made a hand I would bet it hard and usually get paid off. If you miss - oh well you only lost the blind amount. People say you are letting people hit 2 pair etc, but if you limp with AK and you get a board of K 4 6 - its very unlikely somebody has K4, K6 or 46. If you do get a caller then think what could he be calling me with? 5 3, 57, K with a lower kicker probably. Fish will let you know when your beat - If they are calling you you are usually ahead but if you get raised by a fish just cut your losses. I played around 30k hands at party $25NL and the only hands i consistantly raised were AA and KK, The players i was playing with paid no attention to how often i raised preflop and i often got a lot of action from those fish. Nowadays at party I have noticed the players have become a LOT better, so this tactic does not usually work there. Though i recommend this tactic when playing with a lot of fish.