How I Play Pocket Queens
Picture this... you are playing no limit poker 10 handed and you are an average sized stack with 2 stacks double your size at your table. You are in an earlier position, but not under the gun. The under the gun player raises twice the blind and now it's your turn. I'm going to show you how I would play this hand and come out ahead in the long run.
I would double if not triple the under the gun raise to see if he is sitting on AKs, KK, or AA, but with a weak raise like that I want to assume that he has 10 10 or AQo or AJs or possibly AKo. Depending on the type of player he is, when the action gets back to him and I have my pocket queens I will decide what to do on the flop and thereafter. Now lets throw something else in the mix, it's the final table and the bigger stack steals the button by raising all-in. The Under the Gun player calls... do you think your queens are worth going all in preflop?
In this situation I would be hesitant to call because the big stack could take out a player and get you closer to the money, but the real reason that I would not call is because of my conservative style. If he has AK or AKS or KK or AA then I'm pretty much done for with my 4:1 dog hand. Personally I would rather play the game from sheer skill than preflop luck so I wouldn't mind mucking it and making a play later. The odds just don't seem to be in my favor with the situation (this would of course be a game with normal / good players since it is the final table)
Now let's say that the big stack was just a guy who gets lucky all the time and goes all in on a whim. I would call in a heartbeat because I know I've probably got him beat and even if the other guy under the gun calls, each of them probably has just an A for an overcard to my Queens, making there be only 2 more aces in the deck for them to catch.
I guess the way I play QQ is all about how I "feel" It's about instinct, about knowing your players, and especially about being able to guess what they have preflop to see if you are in a coin flip situation or if you are a dog or if you have the upper hand. Short stacked people will go all in with Ax and try to outlast you... so any short stack should be called with QQ... there are so many scenarios that you just don't know until you've been in them all and I've been in quite a few.
The other night I was playing a high stakes limit game at Canterbury Card Club MN and I had made it 3 bets preflop and got a lot of callers. I automatically assumed lots of pocket pairs and lots of overcards. The flop was 7810 and I was first to go. So what did I do? I had to see if I had the best hand... no check raising... just bet out and see who raises. Well the bet was raised twice so QQ looked pretty dead to me, even with a 10 high flop, so I mucked it. You must realize that in poker, you should never play a hand emotionally. Always have an objective look on things and you will be a consistent winner as I am. I walked out of there 2 hours later with 40 big blinds in profit. Not a bad 2 hours.
I would double if not triple the under the gun raise to see if he is sitting on AKs, KK, or AA, but with a weak raise like that I want to assume that he has 10 10 or AQo or AJs or possibly AKo. Depending on the type of player he is, when the action gets back to him and I have my pocket queens I will decide what to do on the flop and thereafter. Now lets throw something else in the mix, it's the final table and the bigger stack steals the button by raising all-in. The Under the Gun player calls... do you think your queens are worth going all in preflop?
In this situation I would be hesitant to call because the big stack could take out a player and get you closer to the money, but the real reason that I would not call is because of my conservative style. If he has AK or AKS or KK or AA then I'm pretty much done for with my 4:1 dog hand. Personally I would rather play the game from sheer skill than preflop luck so I wouldn't mind mucking it and making a play later. The odds just don't seem to be in my favor with the situation (this would of course be a game with normal / good players since it is the final table)
Now let's say that the big stack was just a guy who gets lucky all the time and goes all in on a whim. I would call in a heartbeat because I know I've probably got him beat and even if the other guy under the gun calls, each of them probably has just an A for an overcard to my Queens, making there be only 2 more aces in the deck for them to catch.
I guess the way I play QQ is all about how I "feel" It's about instinct, about knowing your players, and especially about being able to guess what they have preflop to see if you are in a coin flip situation or if you are a dog or if you have the upper hand. Short stacked people will go all in with Ax and try to outlast you... so any short stack should be called with QQ... there are so many scenarios that you just don't know until you've been in them all and I've been in quite a few.
The other night I was playing a high stakes limit game at Canterbury Card Club MN and I had made it 3 bets preflop and got a lot of callers. I automatically assumed lots of pocket pairs and lots of overcards. The flop was 7810 and I was first to go. So what did I do? I had to see if I had the best hand... no check raising... just bet out and see who raises. Well the bet was raised twice so QQ looked pretty dead to me, even with a 10 high flop, so I mucked it. You must realize that in poker, you should never play a hand emotionally. Always have an objective look on things and you will be a consistent winner as I am. I walked out of there 2 hours later with 40 big blinds in profit. Not a bad 2 hours.
posted by The Poker Man | 2:16 PM
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