How come AQ is so bad or am i just not playing it right?

I find that AQ seems to be such a bad hand in the long run of things, it loses when your a huge favorite, have other aces dominated, it just seems to find a way to lose for me almost always. I am very close to just not playing AQ ever, it just hurts to lose with it allllll the time. is there proper ways to play this hand or is it just my luck with it? This hand rarely wins for me in almost all spots, is my number one tourney bust out hand and just sucks in general. Anybody else have huge problems with this hand????

There is a famous saying "never go broke with a queen in your hand"

Sometimes you just gotta tho

JJP said:

There is a famous saying "never go broke with a queen in your hand"

Sometimes you just gotta tho

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fair enough, but in some spots you just gotta go with it forsure, then your actually ahead or a slight favorite and BOOM off the the rail you go.... tilted asking yourself why do i play this stupid hand

It is a good hand, but it needs the favorable flop. It has enough equity against many hands. You just need to play it carefully, do not enlarge the pot too much until you get the nuts

I recall Doyle Brunson saying he was very nervous every time he played AQ because it looks like a good hand but his experience showed him it was more of a trap than anything else long-term.

Seems like you're arriving at the same point.

lontrus said:

I recall Doyle Brunson saying he was very nervous every time he played AQ because it looks like a good hand but his experience showed him it was more of a trap than anything else long-term.

Seems like you're arriving at the same point.

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Doyle is a smart man because i feel the exact same way about the hand, it sseems like ive been playing the game forever, but i'm still a rookie in some spots, a lot more than I would like to admit. I would love to talk to someone like Doyle about this AQ situation, and many others I keep getting myself into.

jadaminato said:

It is a good hand, but it needs the favorable flop. It has enough equity against many hands. You just need to play it carefully, do not enlarge the pot too much until you get the nuts

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It almost seems like there is no real favorable flop with this hand except flopping a straight or nut flush draw. AK could always be lurking or worse aces that have now made 2 pair on a ace high flop, when you flop top pair top kicker with a queen it doesn't always feel safe when your getting action from your opponents, its just a weird hand to play, looks so good but in reality it is just garbage imo. It is hard to fold in lots of spots preflop for me as well. I just don't love the hand but got to find a profitable way to play it. Always open for suggestions

good hand. but without all in. and the right draw !!

AQ and A10 those two hands i rather chose to fold than to get into something bigger just because i have same feeling as you,that i don't know how to play that two hands on propper way .. And you are ahead till river Than all dreams dies

This is a strong hand, but it must be used correctly. With such a hand, I try to play aggressively and use my position at the table.

Good hand, but wouldn't go all-in with it, unless im taking on the weakest guy on the table that I can easily cover, then I would give it a shot.

I play queen like I do a jack. I am willing to let go in favor of a better spot.

I hate AQ so much that I feel happy when there is a big raise or a re-raise in front of me so I don't have to play the hand.

Tmoney999 said:

It almost seems like there is no real favorable flop with this hand except flopping a straight or nut flush draw. AK could always be lurking or worse aces that have now made 2 pair on a ace high flop, when you flop top pair top kicker with a queen it doesn't always feel safe when your getting action from your opponents, its just a weird hand to play, looks so good but in reality it is just garbage imo. It is hard to fold in lots of spots preflop for me as well. I just don't love the hand but got to find a profitable way to play it. Always open for suggestions

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I took my way of playing AQ by reading what the pro say. It's simple, watch the flop and play cautiously, unless you get full house, flush or straight. You are not going to put everything in just because an A appears.

Hello! I think this is a good hand, it is just necessary to be more careful against playing with tight players, who open only very good hands. For example, AQ has only 24% against the QQ + range, you need to be prepared to fold this hand if such an opponent makes a move.

this might sound like a cop out, but every hand is situational. any hand can be played different ways in different spots of the tourney or cash games. all we can do is make the best decision about the AQ at the time you have it, and not worry about any of the other times it has failed or worked for you.

I have had great luck with this hand, maybe better than AK. I say play it!

I dont like A,Q but its one of my top 5 most profitable hands. Weird i don't like them. I don't like 8,8 through j,j either but i play them.

Like other guy said so many things determine how to play hand. Never been in favor of all in pre flop with anything online. But it can happen live too.

Raise them and be careful if re-raised. But play them you should. Funny thing about holdem your never really that far behind pre flop. Post flop things are very clear. Long run play them.

But looking at my post flop were im 80% percent or better to win is at a all time low of winning at 49%. So your never as far ahead as you think. :captain:

Strong hand but can easily trap you. I don't bet all my chips with her.

AQ hand has all problems as any drawing hand like AK, AJ or KQ. You need to hit something on the board to continue with it or you need to have enough stack to bluff with it.

Few days back I lost every hand with AQ in a tourney but never mind.
For me the worst hand is KQ.

AQ good hand

AQ is a great hand you just have to be carefull when you play it to not slow play to get some players out and to watch out when you call or go all in with the hands that dominate you or low a pocket pair . also depends on the level of the tournament

timeforachange said:

this might sound like a cop out, but every hand is situational. any hand can be played different ways in different spots of the tourney or cash games. all we can do is make the best decision about the AQ at the time you have it, and not worry about any of the other times it has failed or worked for you.

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This isn't a cop out, it is the absolute truth. Every hand is either a made hand (value hand), a drawing hand (semi-bluff), or a bluff. When you can't tell what your hand is, this is when you get into trouble.

In my myriad of notes I have taken for myself over the years, I have told myself continually that "pairs suck". A large percentage of the hands we play will simply be paired hands, but they are so easily beat that getting all your chips in with a pair or less, is a real crapshoot.

If you are playing AQ as a value hand, then you must be trying to isolate pre-flop. All-in preflop with any hand is not appropriate (heck we only have 2 cards, how do we know anything) (I know many would not agree with me, but I feel strongly about this.) Then when you see the flop, you will now be better able to decide whether this is still a value hand or if it is now a bluffing hand - it may never be a drawing hand if you are only drawing to a pair.

A lot of professional poker players consider AQ one of the most dangerous hands. The problem is that when you pair your A, you are rarely going to get action from somebody unless they have AK or made 2 pair. Your best chance is if your opponent has AJ/AT. I experienced this in a tournament I just played. Luckily, the other player was passively playing his AK, but I had a hunch that my AQ wasn't good. So, I didn't lose a whole lot of chips.

For me it seems to work btter than AK which always seems to lose against a miracle board...

AQ is great once you have abetter idea of how your opponents play and you can win very nuce pots against people playing KQ or JQs to aggressively...

Maybe you just have bad luck with it, but also check if you are not playing agressiv enough and invite others to try to get lucky by offering them to see cards cheap... Sometimes a little more aggressive betting is all it takes to get rid of the players who otherwise would outdraw you if you allow them to play the hand.

uros1991 said:

AQ and A10 those two hands i rather chose to fold than to get into something bigger just because i have same feeling as you,that i don't know how to play that two hands on propper way .. And you are ahead till river Than all dreams dies

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Same with A10 i dont know how to play it at all , from all the spots even suited i always lose with it ..