Lets Talk About Ace-Queen

Ace-Queen is definitely a hand most of us hate seeing come up in a cash game because it puts you in a lot of awkward spots. It seems like a hand that wins a lot of small pots, and loses big ones.

How do you personally play AQ? How does it being suited or unsuited affect your decision? When someone opens behind you, do you flat or 3-bet? Pretty obvious we are opening it 3x BB, what if you get 3 bet after opening it? What do you do if you miss the flop OOP? How about in position? How big do you let the pot get with top pair top kicker? At what point will you lay it down in a hand?

I think myself as well as a lot of others make frequent mistakes with this hand, so lets get the brain juices flowing and talk about one of the toughest hands in cash games to play in my opinion. Discuss away!

I have recently come round to AK. Previously I had been scared of it because I didn't know how to use it. AQ now occupies that space.

AQ is a great hand and doesn't get me in a great deal of trouble. If I get 3 bet OOP I am insta folding it most of the time unless I am facing a maniac.

IP I might sometimes 3 bet with AQs and also call 3 bets IP. AQo I will fold most of the time.

im so done

When I open it from EP and get 3-bet by a solid player I fold it all the time. He's going to 3-bet an UTG open with AK and QQ+ - all hands are dominating mine.

Now when I have postion with AQs, I'm calling mostly because 3-betting it against solid players only gets worse hands to fold and try to outplay them post-flop. Having position I can chase my draws and play them more aggro. Also, when the flop is AQX you're getting a shit ton of value from AK.

AQ in my opinion it not absolutely good hand, often with such hand it is possible to see A on flop, and to lose because of that that someone and at you has AK AQ, well and in general certainly one-colored AQ very well look against 1010 or 99 or JJ but often there are bits)

I play it the same as AJ, rarely 3 betting with it. We dominate KQ QJ Ax, people play these all the time and we want them in the hand, believing their top pair is good.

My reply represents my present mind set in poker. We make too much out of our own hands and too little about our opponents state of mind. Right now I am reading "Heads-up no-limit hold'em" by moshman. He recalls a famous heads-up match he won without every looking at his cards. Moshmans exclusively used position and ABC poker to take down the villain. I remember a hand I was in where it was obvious that I had the worse of it and my opponent did not have a strong hand. I bet strongly and won the pot. Another time my villain spoke under his breath, I heard him and that got me to lay down the best hand. I know because he proudly showed his weak hand and his face displayed that he played me like a fiddle. Playing the enemy's hand takes lionheartedness, moxie, nerve, spunk, etc. and to ignore your own cards and make big plays and big lay downs. That is what poker is all about and the player that does it the best walks away with the money.

VTedd said:

Ace-Queen is definitely a hand most of us hate seeing come up in a cash game because it puts you in a lot of awkward spots. It seems like a hand that wins a lot of small pots, and loses big ones.

How do you personally play AQ? How does it being suited or unsuited affect your decision? When someone opens behind you, do you flat or 3-bet? Pretty obvious we are opening it 3x BB, what if you get 3 bet after opening it? What do you do if you miss the flop OOP? How about in position? How big do you let the pot get with top pair top kicker? At what point will you lay it down in a hand?

I think myself as well as a lot of others make frequent mistakes with this hand, so lets get the brain juices flowing and talk about one of the toughest hands in cash games to play in my opinion. Discuss away!

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1. Let me explain

2. Being suited does not change my opinion on the hand even though it does add equity.

3. Like Robbo said if someone opens first I flat call to keep dominated hands in the pot. Rarely 3 betting with AQ unless A. I am in the blinds vs players who seem like they have weak holdings and B. I am playing against a maniac who never folds to 3 bets and I am 3 betting for value.

4. If I get 3 bet while holding AQ OOP I fold majority of the time unless it is against a maniac then I may call. I call more with suited AQ than non suited to refer to question 2(against maniacs or wide 3 betters).

5. If I open and miss the flop OOP I fire a Cbet and if they float my bet I shut down often depending on board texture on flop.

6. If I miss IP I still CBet and maybe check back the turn depending on texture.

7 & 8. Very villain dependent on how big we let the pot get, if I have seen villain stack off with TPGK before then I will stack off with TPTK. Don't be afraid to fold TPTK if you need to though. If you are getting raised on the flop/turn by a TAG/NIT you should probably let it go.

9. I added this in here but if it is preflop and a situation like UTG raises 3BB and MP 3bets to 9BB and you are in the CO with AQ, fold it.

Also, AQ is not a very hard hand to play. You just have to be semi cautious and be able to fold it pre.

AK vs AQ 1st hand - AK has 75% chance to win.This is the least reason why you should not be 3betting the AQ whether suited or or not.Maybe you should just go flat with it.

Great hand to pick up small-medium sized pots with, never play a big pot with AQ it's just too likely we're dominated.

I think for me it is extremely weak hand that can only lose a large sum of money..
as earlier learn not to play with AQ in big pots its better for your bank.

Post HH.

There is no "right" way. There are many wrong ways, however.

And to spot them, you need to post HH's.

trolaAa said:

I think for me it is extremely weak hand that can only lose a large sum of money..
as earlier learn not to play with AQ in big pots its better for your bank.

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If you think AQ is 'very' weak, I don't want to think how nitty you are

AQ is good winning hand on my book. Things only start getting shitty below AT.

We need to take into account the table action pre flop, we've made a 3-bet with AQ after an initial raiser and a flat call Im not too worried about villain having AK if he flats,
unless the raise is very early...
if we miss the flop and the pot is multiway we should really in most cases give up there.

however if we isolate the pot we can consider carrying on take it down on the flop or float a c-bet and assess the action on the turn.

Alot of guys will wanna get Ace king in or 3-bet with it pre flop. ofcourse some players still wont it depends on their skills and observation and adaptibility styles


A bad time for Ace Queen is Facing an early raise and a re-raise from a not overly active table.
I will often fold here late in tournaments and also in cash games depending on the price I will quite often fold Ace Queen since at best your gambling with big pairs and potentially Ace King

RodneyC86 said:

If you think AQ is 'very' weak, I don't want to think how nitty you are

AQ is good winning hand on my book. Things only start getting shitty below AT.

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So when you see me at the tables u will know how stitched I am.

fletchdad said:

Post HH.

There is no "right" way. There are many wrong ways, however.

And to spot them, you need to post HH's.

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+1.

AQ should be a winning hand over a decent sample size. However, since it's not as inherently strong as the likes of QQ+ and AK, it's less forgiving of sub-optimal play. So e.g. it's easier to turn AQ into a losing hand than it is AA. This means we have to make better situational decisions with AQ, giving more consideration to the opponent's styles, table position, etc. in order to achieve the profit potential it does have.

Considerations like opponent image, our image, table dynamics, position etc. are crucial in handling AQ.

I believe the most contemplation here would be the betting at the table - you can now decide whether to let it go or continue.

Better in preflop i see AQs or AQ than KK with AQ you can made some strong combination than some monster hand....

FanatsLV said:

Better in preflop i see AQs or AQ than KK with AQ you can made some strong combination than some monster hand....

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Why need to make a hand on the flop when you already have one preflop?

Logic fail

AQ is card from attack at preflop

Ace Queen can be a tricky hand sometimes. You have asked a lot of questions and none of them have a straight forward or simple answer.

Every decision or action requires an analysis of a lot of factors. There are a lot of permutations and combinations applied to these factors which gives us a different situation almost every time. To face these situations we have to apply the knowledge and experience that we have and that will determine what is the best decision to make in that situation.

Now to answer your questions in a simple manner.

How do you personally play AQ ?
Well if everybody to my right folds or if i am first to act then i raise. If not then it depends.

How does it being suited or unsuited affect my decision ?
Well that's not the only thing that affects my decision. So let's say not very much.

When someone opens behind you, do you flat or 3-bet ?
Depends who they are, how far are they behind me, my position, stack sizes, number of players in the pot and so on.

I think you get the point i am trying to make ....

Every single time I tend to get 2 pair AQ with a flop AQ4... I'm up against a set lol

Normally I aim for 2 pair or straight in the back of my head or flush ...

We can 4bet bluff very tight players. Tight players can 3bet with 10s+ we can fold 10s-Qs or AK against tighties.

So often I'm looking to end the hand pre or flop.... And going to the river as cheap as possible unless I've monstered but then u can play the same and sucker people into the hand .

I fold AQ pre, JJ too