Ace-Queen might be the most complicated hand overall in NL Hold'em. So I'd like to give you some facts about the hand itself. Most of my writing is based on use of a poker tracking program such as Poker Tracker (you can get it from the SavvyShop!). Ace-Queen should be played various ways according to your position, your type of opponent, your number of opponents, and the betting action in front of you. In some cases you'll be raising with it, re-raising with it, calling or folding it depending on these factors.

---Summary---

For the summary below, pfr= pre-flop raise, UTG = under the gun, and BU = button. The percentage refers to the percent of hands that your opponent raises with pre-flop (which you'd get from software such as Poker Tracker).

That was a short summary. For a more detailed explanation of this, continue reading. If you want me to add something or have a question feel free to contact me via Savvy PM.

---First in or after a limper---

Basically you should raise AQ from any position if there has been no raise before you. Don't try to slowplay AQ because if you get raised, you'll have no clue where you stand and it might cost you a lot of $ if your opponent has a better hand than you.

---After a raise---

This is the situation where AQ becomes hard to play. It now depends on the hand that you put the villain on. As we want to play long term +EV (expected value), we now have to look at the villain's stats.

You have an edge with AQ as soon as the villain raises with 9% of his hole cards. At this point your edge is only very small (slightly over 50%) and as long as there is not much dead money in the pot you should not re-raise the villain here. I personally would start re-raising as soon as your edge increases to 55%, and that would mean your villain has to raise 12.5% of his hands. A looser villain should be re-raised at any time.

But didn't we forget something? Yes - position. For some players, position doesn't matter to play their cards but we don't care about those players. Their pfr (preflop raise) value is generally so high or low (maniac or calling station) that the decision is quite easy. A solid player somewhat does care about position and as a general rule you can take 1/2 his PFR-value if he raises from UTG and 2x his PFR-value on the button (esp. first in).

Playing against a tighter player, you should take your time to think about what he might have. A player with a pfr of 5% and raising from UTG has you dominated most of the time. A fold is here the best option. At best you have a split with the favor on his side. The same player raising from middle position has an edge of you of about 60/40. If you are skilled postflop (and only then), you should just call the raise of the villain and take a look at the flop. But generally, a tighter player should not be called!

---After a raise and reraise---

Simply fold AQ here. Your hand has no more value!

---Acting to a reraise---

After raising with AQ, you get reraised. So how do you act? This is mostly a question of pot odds and less of your villains pfr-value. Even a very LAG (loose aggressive player) does not re-raise with any 2 cards (maniacs might do that but don't expect them to). Exception here is if you raised first in from the button. Then you should 3Bet the re-raise to show the villain you have a hand. If he pushes, then you are mostly committed and should call. If you are not committed, simply fold to bad pot odds.

The only exception is a fish that re-raises you with any A. Then you should simply push as your edge is way too good to give up. On any other situation I'd recommend that you call beginning with pot odds of 2:1 because this is basically the edge most players re-raising will have on you.

---Acting to a re-raise and a 3Bet---

Simply fold AQ here. Your hand has no more value!

---Post flop---

If you were the preflop aggressor this is pretty much standard. You have to care about draws and traps so I won't go into detail here - just read an article handling postflop play.

If you called a preflop re-raise this gets more interesting. First thing to do is always(!) check to the preflop aggressor. Let him tell you if he has something or not. An AG/AG will bet into you no matter what the flop is and then you have to decide whether your hand is good enough. If you did not improve it most certainly is NOT and you should fold.

However if you can put your villain on a specific hand and he didn't hit the flop but has scare cards in front of him, then re-raise him (3-4x his bet) and he will most certainly fold. If he doesn't you should.

If a Q appears:
This is a nasty situation because now you are about to find out if he re-raised you with AK or JJ or if he's still in the lead. A certain re-raise should settle the pot for you here and if not you still have some outs to hit. But then you should try to keep the pot small (a paradox isn't it?).

If an A appears:
This is nasty too and I'd recommend the same play as when a Q appears.

If KQ appears:
You are done with this hand. Don't put any more money into the pot.

If AQ appears:
Jackpot. Only AA and QQ will beat you here and there are most unlikely as 2 of each are already out. But don't get too confident - you should protect your hand here as the villain might still improve. Settle the pot at the flop or turn.

If AQJ/AKQ appear:
Tough board. Try to keep the pot as small as possible. Against AJ you are way ahead but against AK you shouldn't be too confident.

If AA or QQ appear:
Slowplay against an aggressive villain, he will pay you off. If you play a TAG/TP villain and he checks behind he is either trying to trap you or he hasn't hit the flop. If you haven't seen him trapping players before, you should bet the Turn with 2 exceptions: An A or K appears. If a TAG/TP bets into you and your hand didn't improve, you can be quite sure you are beaten and you should simply fold.

With a Q appearing on the flop you should take the lead here and simply take the pot. With an A appearing on the flop you should try to keep the pot small. Against a weak player I'd recommend small bets that will get called by him. A solid player will try to open the pot and suck you in so don't bet and call unless you have good pot odds.

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