AQ from the SB

I play in low/micro stakes tourneys and SnGs and recently came across multiple situations where I'd be the SB and get a hand like AQ. Of course I'm out of position but it's tough to let it go when the people simply limp in.

I usually raise 3 times the blinds to thin out the players, but often get called down by most and continuation bets (about 1/2 the pot) after the flop seem to get called down as well. I'm not necessarily trying to bluff to pick up a pot but because I get called down often, my hand seems to get beat often.

Should I change my approach to playing a hand like AQ from the SB?

Thanks ahead of time for your help guys - I appreciate it!

instead of raising at the micro stakes just try limping, and hope to flop the monster, you will often find at the lower limits once somebdy has put their chip in the pot they are ussally going to see the flop no matter how big the raise.

Raise more for starters.

3 times the big blind, plus one more for each limper is standard. If you have 3 limpers, the raise should be 6 BBs, and from the SB I might throw in another because you'll be out of position to anyone who calls.

Look at from the limper's standpoint; he puts in 1 BB, gets 2 people calling, then you bet 3. He's getting his 1, 2 calls, your 3, the BBs 1 for a total of 7 and it costs 2 more to call; 7 to 2 is pretty good odds, plus at low levels people have the attitude that they've already put money in, they might as well call.

The other alternative is to just limp, and throw it away if you miss. I'll do this if it's really early and the SnG is really low (meaning lots of limp/callers who won't fold to c-bets either)

^^^ this.

Raise way more preflop. When you want to punish limpers, you need to raise at the very least 3bb+1bb per limper. out off position, i'd actually easily go to 5bb+1bb per limper.

Thanks guys - I guess I had gotten used to raising 3, 3.5 times the BB that I hadn't given much thought of adding a BB for every limper on top of my standard raise.

distance yourself from the big blind with AQ but dont go crazy. I usually bet enough that i would feel ok with folding. Other words.... you have AQ and BB has AA but you dont know it yet. You raise 4x BB.... BB Goes all in, I normally fold. Just my style.

i mostly just call the blind and wait for a top pair with AQ, then check again and some1 will bet for sure, there u go raise it and see what happens

Your out of possition so i would just limp because somebody might be limping say with aces or kings and they limped waiting for a raise and even though its low stakes their are smart poker players who do this, i do it sometimes if im in early possition never from late if everyone is simply limping in. So if you limp and miss its much easier to throw it away then if you raise say 5x or more. If you hit aces up your good to lead out anything other than that is sketchy unless you hit trip queens or aces. those limpers are going to have small PP suited connectors or like a JQ KJ offsuit or something like that. I hope this helped even a little. -Sardonix-

tnh jus drop it in SB

LOL Every one has a different way to play it. I hate AQ for this reason. I have the same problem trying to decide how to play it in the SB. I usually limp unless there are only a couple callers in the hand. I heard Daniel Negreanu calls that hand '2 million' because thats how much money he has lost with it.

I found a whole page dedicated to this on the web, and it has great info.
It was one of those online poker schools, Poker Zion. Pretty good information and I can't argue with most of it.

I've posted it below:

Playing AQ out of the Blinds by John Anhalt

1. Is the table playing somewhat tight? If so, then you should consider these actions:
   1. Are there 4 or limpers or more in the pot? If so, then it is quite likely that someone has some kind of small pocket pair and the rest probably have some other suited type or connector cards. Raise it up big in order to get the hand heads up against the likely mid or small pocket pair. 8x + 1BB per limper is a good size that will isolate you. Then bet 3/4 of the pot no matter what comes on the flop. If you are called, then it is a matter of flop texture, how hard you hit the flop, AND how you think your opponent is playing. If you are unsure of these things, then slow down and check.
   2. Are there 2 limpers or less from mid and late position? If so then there are likely a mixture of somewhat junky hands and hands that you may dominate. Raise and take advantage of this. A raise of 6x the BB + 1BB per limper will typically win you the pot or get the hand heads up. Bet 3/4 of the pot no matter what comes on the flop. If you are called, then it is a matter of flop texture, how hard you hit the flop, AND how you think your opponent is playing. If you are unsure of these things, then slow down and check.
   3. Is it a raised pot from early position? If the pot has been raised from early position and there are no callers, it is best to FOLD your hand until you feel comfortable making good reads on your opponents. It's simply a problem of math. If you will only hit the flop ~70% of that time AND out of that time you may also be out flopped (for instance the flop comes Queen high and your opponent has pocket kings) you will not stand to make much money and quite possibly lose a lot of money. Additionally, if your opponent is tight and an ace flops and they have pocket kings or queens, you will unlikely make any more money. Now if you are at a tight table and your opponent is very loose, then call and take a flop but proceed with caution.
   4. Is it a raised pot with a caller? If the initial raise is from early position, then the same advice applies as in #3. If the raise is from mid or late position however in an UNOPENED pot, then call and take a flop. Proceed with caution, but the addition of the added player will make it difficult for the initial raiser to bluff with air. Additionally the position raiser has to be concerned about your call as well and and a checked flop to him isn't a green light to steal.
   5. Is it folded to the button who makes a standard raise? Unless the button raiser is extremely tight, re-raise a minimum of 3x the initial raise. Bet the flop for 3/4 of the pot size no matter what comes.

1. Is the table playing fairly loose? If so, then you should consider these actions:
   1. Are there 4 or limpers or more in the pot? If so, then it is nearly impossible to make assumptions about what your opponents have. Our general advice in these types of games is to complete and hope to flop a nice hand where you can get a lot of chips out of someone's dominated ace or Queen (or better). It will be very hard to get the hand heads up unless you raise a very large amount, and even so you may get someone calling with nearly any two cards and it will be hard to navigate your play after the flop. Until you feel more comfortable making reads and playing out of position, it's best to take the conservative route.
   2. Are there 2 limpers or less from mid and late position? Again, it's going to be hard to assume what your opponents range in these types of games will be, but you know it will be pretty marginal since there was no raise. Even so it's generally best to raise and take advantage of this. A raise of 6-8x the BB + 1BB per limper will typically win you the pot or get the hand heads up. Bet 3/4 of the pot no matter what comes on the flop. If you are called, then it is a matter of flop texture, how hard you hit the flop, AND how you think your opponent is playing. If you are unsure of these things, then slow down and check.
   3. Is it a raised pot from early position? If the pot has been raised from early position and there are no callers, it is best to FOLD your hand until you feel comfortable making good reads on your opponents. Unless your opponent has shown to be really loose, it's still best to fold to an early position raise with this hand until you feel more comfortable in your reads and playing out of position.
   4. Is it a raised pot with a caller? If the initial raise is from early position, then the same advice applies as in #3. If the raise is from mid or late position however in an UNOPENED pot, then call and take a flop. Proceed with caution, but the addition of the added player will make it difficult for the initial raiser to bluff with air. Additionally the position raiser has to be concerned about your call as well and and a checked flop to him isn't a green light to steal.
   5. Is it folded to the button who makes a standard raise? Unless the button raiser is extremely tight, re-raise a minimum of 3x the initial raise. Bet the flop for 3/4 of the pot size no matter what comes.

I should raise 4 times big blind. If you hit top pair or 2 pair, check and let the other bet first. If he does, you reraise and you will see what will happens.

thanks for the really nice info about this Katharine, i agree most of it, but should be ready for surprises with that hand if u dont know ur opponent well

If its a raised pot I would just call but if limped raise 4BB+1 for each limper. Just remember you'll be out of position.

AQ is never a sure thing so if you can limp go for it then if you hit its a plus maybe lol

Most of the times I limp and pray for a monster on the flop. When you get a few continuation bets after the flop you'll have to great hand or fold...

I usually determine my raise on how many callers i have in front of me. If its only 2 or 3, then ill keep the raise to 3X the BB but if there are 6 or 7 callers with no raises then i might put a raise of 6x the BB. This should def. root out at least half the field, but you never know playing online b/c you get called down with just about everything in small limit gms

i think raising out of position is ok but only about half the times..I like the idea of raising 3x's the blind and a sb for every limper..U should only be continuation betting half the time also in my opinion..

If your table's play indicates that you will be called lightly/floated on the flop, then I would limp along if there are limpers. if there aren't any, raise from the small blind, and try to get to a cheap showdown if you don't hit.