given that we have an A-blocker and given stackdepth I prefer raising flop much more then calling. the most likely hands UTG holds are ABBB or some kind of flushdraw and we do have pretty good visibility vs those hands actually. 

One could argue that we always 3bet AAxx preflop and therefore can't rep it postflop but on the other hand I'd really doubt that anybody on zoom200 is actually thinking about that and turning a TP hand into a huge bluff risking a 600bb stack to make us fold. they rather play it passivly, weighting our range more towards semibluffs and get inclined to call down light - allowing us to vbet pretty thinly both turn and river on most non-flush or non-4-straight runouts

Some things to think about:

When he calls our raise and checks to us on blank turns and rivers, we are happy. We do well against top pair, two pair and bottom set.

But he won't play a big pot with those hands. The hands we beat on the flop won't matter when he wants to play a big pot on the turn and river. When that happens, we're in trouble.

So while a flop raise can get value (and protection) in isolation, we have to keep future streets in mind. When we are unlikely to end up with the best hand in a huge pot, we need to think before we choose a path that leads us towards those huge-pot scenarios.

One problem with our hand (apart from the fact that a flop three-bet will make us vomit) is lack of reliable outs. We have three of them. The rest of our improvers won't really make us happy when Villain wants to play for stacks, or makes a stack-threatening action that indicates he might want to.

So the way I see it we have a good-but-not-great hand for the situation, we have position, and we don't mind future action (yet). If Villain bets the turn, we don't mind, and if SB check-raises the flop, that's fine. But if we build a big pot now, we might not be able to play future streets so comfortably.

So let's call and plan for a moderate pot vs UTG, where this hand should perform well. Position ensures we act with with the maximum amount of information on every street, and every street will get bet, should we want to. Calling also protects our calling range (presumably wide, sitting deep IP) on future blanks and board pairing cards, so there are side-benefits.

That's a good follow-up discussion:

Do we have a flop raising range on this board? 

Flop raising range ramble

The board is ace-low-low with a flush draw. A somewhat dry texture, even with the flush draw. The strong combo draws that are possible (754/542 with hearts) are unlikely for all players after an UTG raise + two coldcalls, because the lowest cards in the deck get played much less.

We don't have many sets after flatting pre (we would 3-bet lots of AA, and we're unlikely to coldcall many low paired hands). We don't have many top two pair, and when we do, it's rarely strong. We might have flatted A654, but we rarely have top two pair + a high flush draw.

Because in order to flat an A6** hand, a nut-suit would often be required. So in order to have top two + decent hearts we would often require an A6B* double-suited hand, and these are rare (and if we'd had a hand like AKQ6$ds, we might have 3-bet it).

We rarely have one of the few strong draws (most 754*/542* are trash and would be folded, and when we have one of the double-suited combinations we might 3-bet instead of flat). And we never have one of the low wraps + a high flush draw, because we don't flat hands like K754 (we might flat some ds hands like this, but they would also be 3B candidates, and they are very rare anyway).

And when we do have middle/bottom set, two pair, or a good draw, these are not hands we're happy to stack off with 600 bb deep against an opponent who still has all the AA in his range. Of course, we should not only raise when we want to stack off. We can raise to take some fold equity, call 3-bets with the best hands and play on.

But I don't like it much to split my flop range when it's so capped to begin with. I will have lots of hands that want to call. Because of these two factors in combination, I like the idea of getting to the turn by calling with my range. Then I can use position to make good turn/river decisions with more disguised range that includes everything from top pair to sets.

In addition to board texture/range consideration, we can think about UTG and his range. We think UTG is a reasonable player, based on the small sample we have. As such, we don't expect him to c-bet mindlessly 600 bb deep and out of position. He's probably also opening pretty tight from UTG to begin with, given stacks. Finally, we have a 3rd player in the pot. He has checked, but he's still there, and we should play somewhat tighter and more cautiously because of him.

So all in all, this is a board texture where there should not be a lot of heavy action between rationally thinking players with deep stacks. This confrontation should result in lots of small/moderate pots, because it's so rare that two players are both strong enough to play a big pot on this board. So I don't see the lack of a of raising range as an indication that we're doing something wrong, quite the opposite.

That said, if we think UTG is opening too wide and/or c-betting too wide and/or playing weakly against aggression, we might raise him plenty anyway. As an exploitative move with hands like weak top pair (blocker bluff) + some semblance of a draw.

In defense of aggressive play

Caution is often prudent, but it's important that we don't get timid in position with deep stacks just because we rarely have a hand good enough to stack off with. That's not an excuse to go passive, because deep-stacked big-bet games is all about representing hands.

But when we're handcuffed by the combination of board texture, our own preflop range, a seemingly decent oppponent, and the presence of a third player in the pot, it makes sense to continue mostly by calling, rarely by raising, and perhaps no raising at all.

This seems like one of those spots to me. But I don't play ante-deep games, so my experience in 600 bb scenarios is limited. I would love to hear the default game plan (as in: sound default, not exploitative moves against specific players or presumed field weaknesses) of experienced deep-stack players on this board.

/end flop raising range ramble