Mon, 01/10/2011 – 22:52 – PokerPages Staff

Through continuous play, the beginner poker player will be faced with hands that require additional knowledge beyond their good foundation of the poker rules and betting.  In fact, the beginner will find that their knowledge base might actually be in conflict with some nuances of the game.  This is true when dealt a troublesome hand, such as Ace-Queen.

For the beginner, any two face cards may appear to be a premium hand.  In the case of A-Q, many players will overplay the hand.  A-Q is not a premium hand and is, in reality, a marginal hand.

Consider this.  Of the starting hands that you may find yourself up against, AA, AK, KK, and QQ, all dominate AQ.  So from the outset, AQ is significantly behind.  As a result, your chip stack will see huge losses from playing the AQ. 

AQ only dominates hands such as AJ, KQ, and QJ.  The problem here is that, in most instances, you will not be playing against these starting hands.  If you do find yourself against these hands with AQ, generally, you will only win small pots.

AQ is best played in late position.  Further, it is best to not play AQ aggressively.  If you don’t flop a monster hand, fold and wait for a better opportunity.

To learn more, check out PokerSchoolOnline, the best source on the internet for poker related learning.  Then put those skills to work by playing for free at PokerStars.net.  Also, check out the PokerPages sections Poker Information and Poker Articles for more poker tips, poker betting, poker information and strategies.