Ace-Queen

The hold'em hand ace-queen (A-Q) can be described by using a famous quote of Mark Twain about the draw hand of two pair: "It costs about the same as a college education to learn how to play the hand properly – and is worth about as much." Similar to the draw hand of two pair, A-Q is a pretty good hand, but the very strong hands beat it.

In hold'em, the hands that beat A-Q also dominate it, meaning they have the hand tied up so that it's difficult to draw out with it. If you help the wrong card, you are in a bigger trap after the flop than you were before the flop. The four hands that dominate the A-Q are A-A, K-K, Q-Q, and A-K.

To give you an idea of what domination means, let's look at your preflop chances of winning with both A-Q offsuit and A-Q suited against the four dominating hands. There are slight variances depending on how the suits of each hand match up, so we will use an all-red dominator against an all-black A-Q. The following statistics show the winning percentage for the hand dominating your A-Q, as calculated by running 100,000 randomly dealt hands on Mike Caro's Poker Probe software program:

A-A: 82 percent vs. A-Q suited, 86 percent vs. A-Q offsuit

K-K: 68 percent vs. A-Q suited, 72 percent vs. A-Q offsuit

Q-Q: 66 percent vs. A-Q suited, 70 percent vs. A-Q offsuit

A-K suited: 71 percent vs. A-Q suited, 75 percent vs. A-Q offsuit

A-K offsuit: 70 percent vs. A-Q suited, 74 percent vs. A-Q offsuit

Here are some conclusions we can draw from these statistics. First, we are at least a 2-to-1 underdog in all of these matchups; this is not good. Second, it is clearly helpful to be suited (about four percentage points better in each confrontation). Third, it does not matter much if our opponent has A-K suited or offsuit.

As we can see, it is in our best interests to avoid getting involved preflop with A-Q if a top-quality hand is out against us. All of the top-quality hands are raising hands. However, it is harmfully tight to completely abstain from playing in raised pots when holding A-Q. If you either call and get raised, or raise and get reraised, you have to play. But if confronted with a double bet, folding comes under serious consideration. This happens when someone in front of you opens with a raise, or when you limp, someone raises, and another player reraises.

How to play A-Q preflop when under the gun in limit hold'em can be discussed first. I believe A-Q to be sufficiently close to the bubble so that I can vary my game without giving up much. With A-Q suited, I usually raise. With A-Q offsuit, the number of opponents dealt in affects my play quite a bit. If the game is eighthanded, I normally raise. If it is ninehanded, I raise about three-fourths of the pots. But if it is 10-handed, I raise only about half the time or slightly more. Against quality opponents, there is nothing wrong with limping. Against typical opponents, or a bunch of calling-type players, it pays to be more aggressive with your raising with A-Q.

If someone raises in front of you, the proper attitude is to want to be a bystander if he has a quality hand and to play or even reraise if he does not. The opponent's position has a lot to do with what type of hand he is likely to hold. If he opens with a raise from early position, he figures to have a better hand than A-Q; from middle position, about the same quality hand; and from late position, a worse hand. So, against a solid and experienced player, fold A-Q to an early-position opening raise, call a middle-position raise, and reraise a late-position raise.

Of course, there are plenty of players who do not play by the book – neither mine nor someone else's – so you cannot be mechanical. If a player is doing a lot of raising, A-Q is too good a hand to meekly get out of his way. You shouldn't let an aggressive player run you off this good a hand. On the other hand, if a player has been in few pots and has not raised any, even his button raise might be a biggie. I would think that you have to call, but it is surely not obligatory to reraise.

After the flop, a common mistake with A-Q when missing the flop is to play your two overcards as if they were A-K. If an opponent has shown strength preflop, you may be up against a hand that dominates yours. In that case (unless you are against aces and drawing dead), only one of your two cards is an out – and you do not know which one. So, if the flop bettor is the preflop raiser or reraiser, do not draw at your "two overcards." Even if you help your hand, you may pair the wrong card.

So far I have been discussing only limit play. In no-limit hold'em, you have to be even more careful than in limit hold'em. I remember a hand I held in a $5-$10 blind no-limit game more than 20 years ago. I was on the button with the A Q. The first player to act was Sailor Roberts. He opened for $65, and everyone folded to me. I knew that Sailor was broke and getting staked – he had just gotten released after doing time for bookmaking – and I did not even consider calling. The blinds also folded, and I never did find out what he had. I am only trying to point out that against certain people, you cannot call a raise even with A-Q suited.

Here is another occasion when I had A-Q against a raiser in no-limit (offsuit this time). On the second day of the 1982 World Series of Poker championship, I was in the big blind with a structure of a $50 ante and $100-$200 blinds. Johnny Moss opened from under the gun for $700 and Sam Moon called. There was $2,100 in the pot and it cost me only $500 more, so I called. The flop came Q-X-X with two small hearts, and I bet. Moss called. Off came the third heart, and I bet again. Moss thought a bit and called. A blank came at the river. I knew exactly what Moss had – either aces or kings with a big heart. I decided not to bluff, and we both checked. Johnny's two red kings took the money. This hand shows the danger in no-limit of calling a raise by a solid player when you hold A-Q. On just this one hand, I lost enough to pay for a year of college. Mark Twain would have knowingly nodded his head.

Poker is more about matching up correctly than just holding big hands. The hold'em hand of A-Q really makes you think about how well you will match up. For those players with good judgment, it is a moneymaker. For those players who think about their own hand only, it is a trap.

Editor's note: Bob Ciaffone's new book Middle Limit Holdem Poker, co-authored with Jim Brier, is available now (332 pages, $25 plus $6 shipping and handling). This work and his other poker books, Pot-limit and No-limit Poker, Improve Your Poker, and Omaha Holdem Poker, can be ordered through Card Player. Ciaffone is available for poker lessons. E-mail [email protected] or call (989) 792-0884. His website is www.diamondcs.net/~thecoach, where you can download Robert's Rules of Poker for free.