Texas Hold'em A to Z: Q Is for Queens

Pocket Queens

I have a love/hate relationship with pocket Queens. Sometimes they give me great pleasure and shower me with riches and the next time they steal my money and kick me to the gutter. Queens are fickle and you have to play with them cautiously or they will break your heart.

Pocket Queens are the third most powerful starting hand. However strong starting hands do not necessarily win the pot. Queens and Jacks are the "baby paint" cards. Obviously Queens are a little stronger than Jacks, but both of these are vulnerable to the single Aces and Kings that many low limit players will play, if an overcard shows up on the flop. (An overcard is any card higher than the ones you hold.)

In most games from any position you definitely want to raise to thin the field. The only exception is in very low limit games where the table consists of very loose players and calling stations. In late position with six or more players, you may only want to call with this hand as you only have about a 20 percent chance of winning. You will have to pay attention to your opponents' play. I have probably saved more money by not raising pre-flop with these hands in most low limit games.

If you see an overcard on the flop, you shouldn't hesitate to bet the hand but be wary if there is a raise. If no card higher than your Queen or Jack appears on the flop you should raise with the top pair if a player ahead of you bets. You want to make it expensive for anyone who might be holding a single Ace or King. If you should happen to flop a set of Queens or Jacks, then you might want to just call if there is a bet and then go for a raise on the turn when the betting limits are higher. The problem with starting with a pair is that you usually need to flop a set or a straight or straight draw to improve your hand as you are vulnerable if there are overcards on the flop.

Ace-Queen

Ace-Queen suited is in the top ten of starting hands and an unsuited Ace-Queen is in the top 20 hands. That being said, many players lose money with Ace-Queen in limit games. Daniel Negreanu used to call A-Q "1.4," named after how many million he has lost with it. It is singlehandedly the biggest trouble hand in poker. A-Q is a Top 10 hand, but is not a premium hand. In tight games if a Queen is the highest card in the flop, you will probably end up winning a very small pot. Those small pots will be offset by some very large losses when you lose. No matter how you look at it, Ace-Queen is a drawing hand.

Many players tend to forget this and play it like a big pocket pair.

Queen-Seven

Queen-Seven is called the computer hand because computer simulations show this hand will win 51.77 percent heads up against a random hand. So with this hand or any hand higher than this one you are almost forced to play in a heads up game. However it is not a hand you would play in a multi-way pot. In a limit game if you are in the big blind and the button or small blind make an attempt to steal your blind you can treat this like a heads-up situation.

Use Caution

There is nothing set in stone about how to play any poker hand. It will all depend on the type of game you are in and the types of players in that game. However I always give a starting hand that contains a Queen some extra thought before I decide to play. I know how much trouble the ladies can be.

Until next time remember:
Luck comes and goes.....Knowledge Stays Forever.