ace-queen is a solid hand.

[Absolute 0]

*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to SlippyJacks [As Qd]Enigma84: folds pierrecardog: calls $0.05kekova04: calls $0.05dobermann01: calls $0.05clark ken: calls $0.05Loco1942: calls $0.05rbrewer: calls $0.05SlippyJacks: raises $0.05 to $0.10sharkgrl: calls $0.05pierrecardog: calls $0.05kekova04: calls $0.05dobermann01: calls $0.05clark ken: calls $0.05Loco1942: calls $0.05rbrewer: calls $0.05AQ has been killing me lately, but I am a rock pre-flop and I make the correct play and raise.*** FLOP *** [7d Jc Tc]SlippyJacks: bets $0.05sharkgrl: folds pierrecardog: raises $0.05 to $0.10kekova04: folds dobermann01: calls $0.10clark ken: folds Loco1942: calls $0.10rbrewer: folds SlippyJacks: calls $0.05I won't bother to explain why this is a good bet, because anyone who doesn't think so won't listen anyway.*** TURN *** [7d Jc Tc] [Kh]SlippyJacks: checks pierrecardog: bets $0.10dobermann01: calls $0.10Loco1942: calls $0.10SlippyJacks: raises $0.10 to $0.20pierrecardog: calls $0.10dobermann01: calls $0.10Loco1942: calls $0.10Pistachios please.*** RIVER *** [7d Jc Tc Kh] [6d]SlippyJacks: bets $0.10pierrecardog: calls $0.10dobermann01: folds Loco1942: calls $0.10~Sweet~*** SHOW DOWN ***SlippyJacks: shows [As Qd] (a straight, Ten to Ace)pierrecardog: mucks hand Loco1942: mucks hand SlippyJacks collected $2.30 from pot

[Guest XXEddie]

At time yes, just because you make the nuts doesnt mean its solid, is 27 solid when flop is 772. AQ isnt very solid if you are raised from EP. You werent in this hand though, vut dont think AQ is always solid, good hand and good play

[Absolute 0]

Not to be crass, but are you arguing for the sake of arguing?If not, I would like to see a hand where you folded AQ to one raise in EP.

[princeof56k 0]

I think what XXEddie is arguing is the general theory that offsuit face cards can be very difficult to play from a raise from EP (the exception being AKo). The reason being is that you dont really know what your trying to catch to beat the EP raiser. For example if EP raised and you call with AQo, and an A, Q, or even both comes on the flop, it can be difficult to know where you stand in regards to the EP raiser. It will also be very difficult to cut that loose. Of course all this assumes that people in the EP conform to general good play and raise from EP only with very strong hands. So if your in a game where someone will raise with anything, AQo is still very strong.Personally I still play AQo to a raise. Not sure if thats correct or not, but thats what I do.

[omnic0n 0]

If you're talking about tournament hands then AQ imho isn't a extremely strong tournament hand. Take for example you have AQ in early position and you raise. Someone in Middle position(lets say a solid player) raises all in, which covers your stack, and everyone folds back to you.Against any pair 22-JJ you're (50/50)vs QQ KK AA and AK you're a major underdog.even hands like78 TJ KJ J9(suited), you're only a slight favorite (60/40)The only hands you dominate are AJ-A2 QK-Q2 and crap like 27 39 59Is it worth risking your tournament on a coin flip?

[justblaze 0]

If you're talking about tournament hands then AQ imho isn't a extremely strong tournament hand. Take for example you have AQ in early position and you raise. Someone in Middle position(lets say a solid player) raises all in, which covers your stack, and everyone folds back to you.Against any pair 22-JJ you're (50/50)vs QQ KK AA and AK you're a major underdog.even hands like78 TJ KJ J9(suited), you're only a slight favorite (60/40)The only hands you dominate are AJ-A2 QK-Q2 and crap like 27 39 59Is it worth risking your tournament on a coin flip?

clearly we are talking about limit hold em ring games. and AQ is a playable hand to an ep raise depending on the player. with no read, im coldcalling, with a tight read im folding and with a loose read im reraising. people make raises from EP with all kinds of junk. not everyone is dan harrington.

[espnnate 0]

why do the people that post play such low limits? no one cares if you win 3 dollars or lose 3 dollars. i guess the people like me who actually play real limits don't care to share. good luck anyway

[justblaze 0]

why do the people that post play such low limits? no one cares if you win 3 dollars or lose 3 dollars. i guess the people like me who actually play real limits don't care to share. good luck anyway

you dont know f*ck all about what i play. does it make you feel big that you play bigger than .5-1?

[Devilkin 0]

why do the people that post play such low limits? no one cares if you win 3 dollars or lose 3 dollars. i guess the people like me who actually play real limits don't care to share. good luck anyway

Playing good poker doesn't mean you play the higher limits. Some people simply don't have the bankroll to do it. Good poker, and poker theory, is universal throughout the limits. The only difference is the price you pay to play, and the level of competition.Dev

[KidKanuck 0]

why do the people that post play such low limits? no one cares if you win 3 dollars or lose 3 dollars. i guess the people like me who actually play real limits don't care to share. good luck anyway

Playing good poker doesn't mean you play the higher limits. Some people simply don't have the bankroll to do it. Good poker, and poker theory, is universal throughout the limits. The only difference is the price you pay to play, and the level of competition.Dev

well said.

[gadjet 11]

why do the people that post play such low limits? no one cares if you win 3 dollars or lose 3 dollars. i guess the people like me who actually play real limits don't care to share. good luck anyway

Playing good poker doesn't mean you play the higher limits. Some people simply don't have the bankroll to do it. Good poker, and poker theory, is universal throughout the limits. The only difference is the price you pay to play, and the level of competition.Dev

This is something that someone who plays micro limits likes to think… I have to agree that sometimes seeing all these posts from .05/.10 games is a bit ridiculous… and it has nothing to do with what a big dog I am or how pigheaded I can be because I play for more money than you… If you have played all limits from .01/.02 up to $30/$60, Limit/Pot Limit/No-Limit than you do know how different the game is at different levels… your statement that good poker at all levels is universal is not true at all. People's psychological attachment to the money they play with is a big part of the game play a day well outside your comfortable limit and you will see how it affects your game… drop down to .01/.02 and you will see how little you care and how much more impatient you may be… Good poker theory very rarely be the same at a .25/.50 table as it is at a $20/$40 table because you will find much looser game with less respect for raises at the quarter game… So I have to admit even though I love this forum and have found some useful thoughts I wonder from time to time where the real limit players are… in fact I'm gonna start a thread to find out what people are playing … let's here some responses…

[Absolution 0]

I won't bother to explain why this is a good bet, because anyone who doesn't think so won't listen anyway.

Please, AQ is a drawing hand and you missed your draw. Time to slow down. Just ask Smash and Lee Jones. They are tight.

[Devilkin 0]

This is something that someone who plays micro limits likes to think… I have to agree that sometimes seeing all these posts from .05/.10 games is a bit ridiculous… and it has nothing to do with what a big dog I am or how pigheaded I can be because I play for more money than you…If you have played all limits from .01/.02 up to $30/$60, Limit/Pot Limit/No-Limit than you do know how different the game is at different levels… your statement that good poker at all levels is universal is not true at all.People's psychological attachment to the money they play with is a big part of the game play a day well outside your comfortable limit and you will see how it affects your game… drop down to .01/.02 and you will see how little you care and how much more impatient you may be…Good poker theory very rarely be the same at a .25/.50 table as it is at a $20/$40 table because you will find much looser game with less respect for raises at the quarter game…So I have to admit even though I love this forum and have found some useful thoughts I wonder from time to time where the real limit players are… in fact I'm gonna start a thread to find out what people are playing … let's here some responses…

You completely missed what I was saying - analyzing a hand, and how it was played, is universal to poker. If you have AA, raise in any position. General poker theory doen't relate to blinds.Now, reads on a player, the psychological aspect of it, yes it does affect how one plays. But, when we are tearing apart a hand, its silly to include the blind structure. If you are playing, you can afford it (or should be able to).If the table is tight, it doesnt matter if its .5/1 or much much higher. You adapt to the people at the table. If money is a concern to you, you are definitely playing the wrong blind level.Dev

[brando 0]

why do the people that post play such low limits? no one cares if you win 3 dollars or lose 3 dollars. i guess the people like me who actually play real limits don't care to share. good luck anyway

This was said with a ruler in his hand

[jayistheman 0]

haha

[Guest Anonymous]

i hope you know aqos is a coinflip against 9tsuited, and therefore is not as good as you think althoguh AQsuited in most instances desrves a raise preflop AQ off suit does not as always....idiots

[elcapitan19 0]

I am not bagging on anyone for the limits they play but I will say that my game is generally $1-2 no limit and in that game AQ can be deadly. Like someone else mentioned it's extremely difficult to play against an EP raiser because they can easily have you beat if flop comes A, and it is very difficult to get away from. Same thing if flop comes Q high. YOu have a good hand then but not only is it vulnerable it could already be beat, either way it is a hand that can cost you your whole stack and rarely win you an entire stack. I rarely call for a raise with these cards and sledom raise with them, that way if I can get a cheap flop I can get away from the hand if there is any aggression on the flop.

[Absolute 0]

i hope you know aqos is a coinflip against 9tsuited, and therefore is not as good as you think althoguh AQsuited in most instances desrves a raise preflop AQ off suit does not as always....idiotsyou are right!and you know what else?i have an eighteen inch penis. and right now i am on the planet saturn, hovering in a chair watching mozart and elvis play tetherball beneath me.

[brando 0]

I am not bagging on anyone for the limits they play but I will say that my game is generally $1-2 no limit and in that game AQ can be deadly. Like someone else mentioned it's extremely difficult to play against an EP raiser because they can easily have you beat if flop comes A, and it is very difficult to get away from. Same thing if flop comes Q high. YOu have a good hand then but not only is it vulnerable it could already be beat, either way it is a hand that can cost you your whole stack and rarely win you an entire stack. I rarely call for a raise with these cards and sledom raise with them, that way if I can get a cheap flop I can get away from the hand if there is any aggression on the flop.

I understand what you're saying....but it can cost someone their whole stack at any limit they play....it's all relative to the size of your bankroll/limits you play.

[Ebonwoulfe 0]

I remember when this forum had a lot less ridicule and a lot more compassion. Just like Christians and the Crusades, something went horribly wrong for a while.Let's talk a bit about AQ instead of talking about how pitiful someone is who plays at .05-.10, which I believe is false. While it's true that if you can't beat this limit, you shouldn't move up, the same is true for ANYONE playing at ANY limit. When someone does well at a limit, it does very little to say about their maximum ability if their BR was endless. ANYONE who plays high limits can slum it up in low limits and make a killing if they adjust their game accordingly. The biggest adjustment is to realize when they actually have good pot odds to chase that gutshot.Crap now I'm talking about people who play low limits... alright AQ.With as many people as were in the hand, a bet here is not entirely out of the question. If you get someone holding something like AK to fold, then you've come out the better from it because now you've cleaned up your A's as outs (there are only 2 left in the deck if someone has AK, but at least they're clean), AND you have cleaned up your Qs from anyone holding AK as well, so maybe TPTK will be good by the river. There IS a problem with this idea though, and that is that you probably won't get someone to drop AK at this point in the hand, because he has almost the same hand you do, two overs and a gutshot, and he's probably calling with it. I think the only time a bet would be good was in late position if it gets checked to you, because you might buy that free card on the turn or you might get everyone to drop the hand anyway. Of course, the final thought is that with with 4 or 5 people in the hand, two overs with a gutshot would be hard to lay down, because you're getting a mad overlay to hit your hand somehow or another. Generally, if you're going to call a bet anyway, you might as well be the one doing the betting. Of course, if this was your line of thought, you didn't want your bet to drive people out of the pot (I think...?), not only that I don't think you COULD drive people out of the pot at this point, due to the low limit play. That's right. It's different because it's low limit. Not worse. Different.

[justblaze 0]

i hope you know aqos is a coinflip against 9tsuited, and therefore is not as good as you think althoguh AQsuited in most instances desrves a raise preflop AQ off suit does not as always....idiots

i hope you know this is not a coinflip. you are ahead 60-40. its not a huge edge, but its an edge. clearly you are the idiot.

[Ebonwoulfe 0]

It's a coinflip even less than QQ is a coinflip against AK.For the record...it's isn't a coinflip.QQ is about 57%, AK about 43%.Some coin.TV has made people think that two overs against a pp is a coinflip.The only situation this is a coinflip is something like 66 against 9Ts. If every had you had AK (even suited) against ANY pp (even 22), you would go broke. Broke broke broke.Of course, if you had 9Ts and he had 22-55, you would break him.That being said, the reason to play AK against QQ is because there's money in the pot to give you better odds for your call than what's in the pot. Kinda sucks. Sure, QQ is getting better than 57-43 pot odds and AK is also getting better than 43-57, they both have to take the odds because they're both better off. If it was heads up with no dead money in the pot, again the AK would go broke.

[pat_s_lee 0]

One thing I like from Doyle's book (on pg. 31):"It's also to your own advantage to think of chips as units, and not as money. You may consider your money status before the game and after the game, but while the game is in progress it is only a game, and the chips are just units. You're trying to win as many units as you can."Just food for thought when you move up in limits.

[princeof56k 0]

I rarely call for a raise with these cards and sledom raise with them, that way if I can get a cheap flop I can get away from the hand if there is any aggression on the flop.

I can see your point about rarely calling a raise with AQo, but I have to disagree with your second point about seldom raising AQo. If I'm going to play AQo, I like to be the raiser. So If it gets to me and no one has raised, I raise with AQo. The reason I do this is to thin the field (as AQo does better aqainst few opponents) and to protect my hand if I make top pair (since thats what we are trying to get). I want to force out those draws and make make people think twice about drawing against me. I generally use this strategy when trying to play combinations of face cards that are offsuit. If someone re-raises behind me, I'll call and then proceed with caution on the flop.Just a different of opinion.

[ArseneLupin3 0]

Against any pair 22-JJ you're (50/50)vs QQ KK AA and AK you're a major underdog.even hands like78 TJ KJ J9(suited), you're only a slight favorite (60/40)The only hands you dominate are AJ-A2 QK-Q2 and crap like 27 39 59Is it worth risking your tournament on a coin flip?

Yes, you have to do this very often to win tournaments unless the blinds are small or the raiser is very very tight.-adam