Hand for Hand: AQ (Part Two)

Chris Grove : November 24th, 2008

Hand for Hand is an article series where we break down a single hand and explore its strengths and weaknesses within the context of multi-table tournament play. In this installment we’re going to take an in-depth look at Ace Queen (AQ).

This is Part Two of our article on AQ. View Part One here.

Let’s talk about short stack play first:
When you have 11BBs or less, being dealt AQ should be a cause for celebration. You can confidently open the pot from any position, and you can feel pretty good about defending against an open in almost all situations as well. The only times you should be looking to ditch AQ when you’re that short (especially if there are antes) are the times when two or more players are active in front of you. Even then, you can still find some spots where AQ is playable – especially if the action is in late position. Let’s look at a common example: You’re in the SB with AQs. You have 10BBs after posting. The table folds to the CO, who raises 3BBs. The button three bets to 9BBs. That puts 14.5Bbs in the middle and you’re up against two pretty broad ranges, plus the hand is likely to play out heads up. With a short stack, getting about 1.5-1 in a situation where you’re likely to have 40-50% equity in the pot is a dream situation. So, in short: get it in when you’re short with AQ, unless there’s significant action in early position.

Simple enough. Let’s move on to exploring play with AQ when you have a larger stack, say 30BBs+.

Attacking the blinds:
AQ is a great hand for attacking the blinds of players who have shorter stacks, regardless of their ranges. Against the tighter ranges, AQ will pick up the pot more than enough times to make up for the relatively few times you run into a monster. Against looser ranges, AQ performs pretty well, and you’re always going to be getting a great price to call a raise from a short stack anyhow. Shorter stacks also mean you are unlikely to face difficult flop decisions.

AQ is also effective for attacking medium stacks in late position, but you’ll often find yourself in some pretty high-variance situations against aggressive players. If you have aggressive players with good three betting stacks to your left, you’re likely to find yourself being three bet pretty liberally and often getting a pretty decent price to call. Here’s an example: Let’s say you have a 30BB stack and you’re on the CO. Your opponent on the button has 18BBs, which is a great stack for three betting late position raises. The table folds to you and you make it 2.5BBs. That, along with the blinds and antes, puts 5 BBs in the middle. The button shoves for 18BBs total, and the blinds fold. Now you have to call 15.5BBs to win 23BBs, or just about 1.5-1. Against an aggressive opponent, that’s a great price, but against a TAG opponent, it’s just about exactly the right price. Telling the difference between a TAG and a more aggressive player is not the easiest thing to do with the limited information you have playing online, so this call can become a little borderline pretty quickly – especially when you realize that it’s for more than half of your remaining stack.

AQ is also fine for attacking deep stacks in late position, but you have to be prepared to avoid large pots. That means playing pot control when you do flop a pair or a draw, proceeding a little more cautiously with continuation bets, and giving serious thought to abandoning the hand if you’re three bet.

Defending the blinds:
Defending the blinds with AQ follows much of the logic that attacking the blinds does. It’s a no-brainer to defend your blinds against short stacks, and probably sub-optimal to defend with AQ against another deep stack, unless you have a solid read on them or a strong advantage post-flop.

Medium stacks present the most difficult situations for AQ, and your play should be largely dictated by your read on your opponent. One of the critical distinctions between solid players and weak players is how they handle 15BB or so stacks. Weak players are willing to raise and fold with those sorts of stacks, while solid players are almost never opening with a hand they will be willing to fold to a re-raise. The logic is simple – first, the power in a 15BB stack is in its ability to resteal, so opening pots light and then folding to a raise doesn’t make much sense, as it drains the stack and its ability to resteal. Second, when you have a 15BB stack and you open for 2-3BBs, you’re always getting a pretty good price to call when someone reships. So, against tighter or more experienced players with medium stacks, it makes sense to lay off of AQ, but against looser or more inexperienced players, re-raising seems fine. If you prefer a lower-variance play, you can also call and see a flop, but it’s usually better to pick up the pot preflop when you’re against a 15BB stack.

Finally, what about when you’re the medium stack? AQ actually plays pretty straightforwardly when you have a 13-20BB stack. Let’s break it down by action.

When you’re opening the pot: With a medium stack, it’s my opinion that you’re usually stuck to AQ once you open the pot. It’s just an issue of the price you’ll usually be getting, and your immediate need for chips. You can find some exceptions – the earlier you are and the deeper you are, the more sense it might make to fold to a re-raise. Let’s say you have 20BBs and open to 3BB UTG. The table folds to the SB, a 30BB stack, who shoves. You have 17BB left, there’s now 25BBs or so you win, so you’re getting about 1.5-1 to call. That’s short of what you need to call correctly against a tight range, and just what you need against a TAG range. I’d imagine that someone three betting your UTG raise from the SB is probably pretty strong. But, if you fold, you still have a playable stack for an orbit or two. Under those conditions, you can pass on AQ. However, if you have 2BBs less or are a few seats later, you’re probably stuck to it. If you’re in late position, you’re almost certainly stuck to it.

When someone else opens the pot: Again, position is key. The earlier the open, and the earlier you are, the weaker AQ becomes. The later, the stronger. I’d be a little hesitant to reship on a UTG raise when I’m sitting UTG+2 with AQ; there are just too many hands to act behind, and the original raiser is probably stronger than average. However, I’d be high-fiving the monitor if I had AQ on the button and saw a raise from the CO or hijack. Everything in between, I’m sorry to say, is a little opponent-dependent, but I’m always leaning toward getting the money in facing a raise with AQ. Obviously, if you have a lot of action in front, you can pitch AQ pretty easily.

That, in a nutshell, is AQ. It’s definitely a hand that has undergone a bit of a renaissance over the last couple of years – far from being the sucker hand it once was, it’s now a powerful holding in a variety of tournament situations. While it’s a long way from AA, it’s still a hand that, under the right situations, is more than worthy of gambling your tournament life on.