I hate

Cos it's just a stupid gamble. pocket Aces, King Ace suited, a good pre-flop hand means nothing unless you hit an ace, king, or the suit on the flop. It's macho gesturing, and it forces people into hard folds or big risks. It's a part of the game, and a better player would know how to play them, but it just annoys me. I like to play the odds between 2/3 hands, not 10.

It's not really that stupid of a gamble. If you raise pre-flop with a decent hand you know you're likely to be up against other decent hands if you get called. More often than not you'll get bad hands to fold so people are less likely to suck out on you.

Also, you're setting the tone for the betting later on. You want big pots for your big hands and a pre-flop raise can be a good way of manipulating the betting.

From the POV of someone with a marginal hand facing pre-flop raises, I'd be happy to fold knowing that more often than not I'm throwing away a worse hand that could get me into trouble.