Playing the Ladies

No doubt, pocket Queens is a great hand! Play it wrong, though, and it can be very expensive.

About 69% of the time, the flop won't have an Ace or King in it. When the flop is good, your chances to win the pot are excellent. However, that 31% of the time that an overcard flops is when you stand to lose quite a bit of money if you don't pay careful attention to what's going on. I have seen quite a few players bet and raise with Queens after a bad flop. If the other player DOES hit an overcard, you realistically need another Queen to win. Since there are only two more in the deck, the chances of hitting one on the turn is just 2/47. If you miss the turn, you have a 2/46 chance of getting your third Queen on the river. If the other guy DOES have a paired King or Ace, he's going to make you pay quite a bit of chips to try and beat him. Even if you hit your third queen, there's about a 10% chance that the opponent had KK or AA and alraedy has you beat with better trips.

So how can you maximize your winnings with this hand?

First of all, it's important to chase A-anything hands out of the pot. Especially at low limits, many players will play any ace. Their A-6 offsuit could ruin your great hand if they get lucky. You raise. If you're in early position, this will hopefully knock out the bad hands since they have to call two bets. If you're in late position, pretty much everyone who already was in for one bet will call the second bet. However, since you're the favorite to win at this point, you're getting more money into a pot you can reasonably expect to win.

If the flop comes up all Queens or lower, bet and raise. Be careful though if you're re-raised. Someone could have hit two pair or trips. If that happens you will have to use your judgement and decide whether the re-raiser would play that aggressively without a great hand. Some players will, especially if they flop top pair with a great kicker.

If the flop comes up with an Ace, and there are still a few players in the game, watch out! Many players will see the flop with a wide range of pockets that include an Ace, even against a raise. If you're in early position, you can bet for information. If you're raised, you will have to fold unless you pickup a tell that the raiser is bluffing. If you're called, be very careful about betting the turn. It's probably best to check and fold the turn if you don't hit one of the other two Queens.

If the flop comes up with a King, it's less clear-cut how to proceed. Players who will stay in with hands like AJ, AT, A9 are much less likely to stay in with KJ, KT, K9 against your raise IF THEY WERE BEHIND YOU WHEN YOU RAISED and had to cold-call two bets. So if your raise was from early position, you're only really worried about hands like AK, KK - hands that probably would have raise during the first round of betting anyway, giving you a clue to their strength. Even if you raised in late position, and most players called your raise, it's less likely that hands with a King stayed in compared to hands with an Ace.

Queens are a great hand you would be glad to get over and over. You will make money with these cards in your pocket. Following the advice in this blog will help you avoid losing when the flop doesn't favor your great starting cards.