Hold 'Em Poker Strategy: Playing Pocket Queens
by Deke Marston | Nov 29 2011
Pocket queens are great, but still vulnerable! Find out how you get the most from the third-most-powerful pocket cards!Mathematically speaking, the odds that your pocket queens will end up going against a pair that can beat them are pretty small, but there are two problems with playing this hand before the flop. If you get into a raising war against another player, you can basically assume they're holding the dreaded aces or kings. In addition to this, an over-card pair becomes much more likely fate after the flop. Both of these factors mean that you shouldn't be overly committed to a pair of queens, but you can still get a lot of good out of them when they're played properly.
Practice your strategies when you play free online poker at Bodog!Let's say you raise before the flop and get re-raised. You need to look at the way the opponent has played before and if they've stayed tight throughout the game, then you can work out the possibility of them having a winning pair using card distribution. There are sixteen ways of someone getting AK preflop and 6 ways of being dealt either pair. If they're pure math player that's raising, then the odds are 57% AK, 43% for either AA or KK.
However, if you're playing against a looser opponent, you might well have the advantage as they're gunning for you while holding JJ, AQ, TT or the like. This is when table position and your effective stack size are going to play a bigger influence on your game. If the loose raiser is to your immediate right, then you'll want to consider a re-raise, which will kick out additional callers and ensure that you're going to heads-up in position. Calling them can give other players the chance to enter the pot and dilute your hand's strength. If an ace hits the flop, it's likely to have helped someone who called your raise and you'll have to fold.
Stack sizes are another big factor in how you play QQ. If you're re-raising with a deep stack, that's one thing, but if you're running a bit low (and this happens more often in tournaments than anyone would like to admit) then you are going to have to adjust your play a bit. Once the blinds and antes reach 10% of your stack, then playing hard is a good idea: it lets other players know you're serious. Yes, you're risking more but you narrow the range of your opponents very effectively.
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With QQ, you need to do two things to play the hand effectively: control the number of players going into the flop whenever possible and be willing to fold if you feel that you're facing down a stronger pair. If in doubt, cut your losses and keep your chip stack to play again another day.
