A-Q is Not a Top 10 Starting Hand
No matter what charts you use, A-Q suited is in the top 10. The first thing to accept is that A-Q unsuited is not a top 10 hand but does make it into the top 20.
If you played ABC poker by following a chart of hands, A-Q suited (A-Qs) is one you would never play in early position and would only play in an unraised or unopened pot in middle to late position.
Being in the top 20 hands means that A-Qs and A-Qo are in the best 10% of possible starting hands.
Of all the possible starting hands, only 5.85% of all possible hands are equal in strength to A-Qo, or stronger than it. A-Qs is only beat by 3.77% of all possible starting hands.
The average for A-Q is 4.81%. For this article we're going to use 5% as our number.
One thing to know about poker is that your math and
odds only have to be close. If you can get it within a percent or two, that's all you need to know.
As long as your decisions are +EV, the true amount doesn't matter. Being 64% or 65% to hit makes no difference to the hand or how you'll play it; don't sweat the exact math.
Should You Raise with Ace Queen?
Playing ABC poker, you will only ever be playing the top 20 starting hands. Just under 10% of the possible hands you can be dealt are playable in an ABC game.
On average you should be playing one hand per orbit, three hands per hour in live poker.
online poker play will have up to three times more hands dealt per hour on a single table.
If only 5% of hands are better than your A-Q, the odds are you have the most hand
equity. With the most equity, you should be raising and pumping the pot.
If only 10% of hands are playable, and this is in the middle of those playable ones, it should by all means be played and be played hard. Unfortunately, poker isn't as straightforward as this. Things are never quite as obvious as they seem.
A great example I learned reading Mike Caro's new book Caro's Most Profitable Hold'em Advice. Years ago, before people really began to study poker, there was very little scientific advice and knowledge about the game.
At that point in poker's life, many top players believed that J-T suited was the best starting hand in poker. It was the highest suited connector possible with full straight potential. It doesn't "dead end" on the top end as Q-J would.
The Truth About AQ
If we look at A-Q only in the context of how it stacks up in the hand charts, I think we'll be missing some important aspects to the hand and working from only half-truths.
The truth is simple and obvious if we look at results from poker experience: A-Q does not win 95% of the time.