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A,Q os, flop is A,2,4 all diamonds (my queen is a D), guy to my right bets, I raise and the 3rd player in calls. 1st better smooth calls me (as I find out later) Turn is another 4 and so 1st better checks, I check but the last guy bets - We both call. River was a diamond. 1st position bets, I only call but 3rd person raises...followed by the 1st bettor re-raising, me calling and the button capping it - I have the queen high flush and spend $18 to see the Button had flopped the king high flush, but the 1st guy has pocket 2's and boated on the turn.

I felt comfortable with Aces and the queen high flush draw here (and nobody raise preflop) but ended up with the 3rd best hand in a real big pot - should this just become a "trouble" hand? I'm not playing No Limit right now, but i've had the same experience with A,Q there (actually I find myself calling too many all ins with it - I'm trying to get better about that).Would you reccommend just seeing the flop with this hand? Or is that just part of losing some hands and I need to call there? I've actually seen a lot of players at this level capping with 2 pr in the same situation. So i'm not always up against that great of a hand. Just seems that A,Q is quickly becoming my least favorite hand.

thanks for the incredible site - Everytime I have a bad day (like today) I come back and read some of the advice - The mental part is the toughest right now - Staying focused and thinking clearly. I have a huge tendency to get outta control when I lose a big hand. But I feel as though i'm improving everytime I play lately, so thanks for that

Answer: AQ in either limit or no limit is a trouble hand. A trouble hand is one that looks really good, is hard to fold, yet against other raising hands doesn't fair very well and just sucks you in till the river. Other trouble hands are ones that are in competition for the same cards that premium raising hands are, such as AJ, KJ, KQ, QJ, KT and QT. Notice that in each of the examples, you never can feel totally confident playing against another person's raise. If you have AJ and flop a Jack, sure you could have the best Jack, but not the best pair. If you flop the Ace, you have the best pair, but not necessarily the best kicker.

So should you never play AQ and KJ again? No. As always, neither extreme is correct; you can't always play the hands, and you can always fold them. Out of all of the trouble hands, AQ is the best. Since your question is in regards to limit holdem play, let me answer about how I play the hand in limit holdem. If everyone is limping in, your AQ figures to be better than anything someone would just flat call preflop with, so you raise. Now, what if someone raises before you, do you muck the AQ, or reraise, or just call? I think flat calling is usually the worst option in situations like this because you let the blinds in for one more bet. If you threebet, you limit the amount of players in and possibly buy yourself some position.

Notice that threebetting buys you a lot for just one more small bet. Instead of $6 preflop, you pay $9 preflop -- not that big of a difference, but it sets you up well for the rest of the hand. Position is a big plus if you know how to leverage it. Let's go over a couple of examples and how they would play out if you were to take the aggressive route:

1. You have the AQ and the opponent has KK. He raises and you reraise preflop, now he caps it. The cap, unless he is really reckless (which you would notice before this hand), suggests he at minimum has QQ -- more likely AK, KK or AA. That already gives you some information so you can play the hand better post flop, where most of the money goes in. Now when the flop comes back, he bets. If you catch your Ace, you'll play it to the river. If you miss, you see the turn and fold. The cost for this hand is 5 small bets. On the other hand if you win, you'll get 5 BBs from him, plus the blinds (4 small bets preflop, 2 small bets on the flop, plus the turn and river bets).

2. You have AQ and he has a mid-range pair like 99-QQ. He raises, you reraise preflop and get heads up. Now the flop comes back and he checks to you. That last bet you put in preflop gives you initiative, which is valuable. Now when he checks, you can take a free card or bet the flop and check the turn seeing both the turn and river for free. Also note that if he does have a big pair and check raises you, you can get out for cheap too. Many times you'll bet the flop, check the turn and catch your card on the river and stick him in. This is where position helps so much.

3. You have AQ and he has AK. You reraise preflop like above. You both flop an Ace. He bets, you raise, he reraises. You have to call this one down and you lose. This is the most unlikely situation and one that I don't worry too much about since it happens so infrequently.

So the above hands are ones in which you played pretty aggressively preflop so that you can set yourself up well for the rest of the hand. Will this work in every game? No. In bigger games, this would be the pace and would be the way you would play the hand. In low limit games like $3/6, you may find that reraising preflop does nothing more than put more money in the pot since people give no regard to calling threebets cold. If that is the case and the game is very loose, I would suggest that you play more of a fishing game.

I call "fishing" when I try to get in preflop as cheaply as I can with a lot of hands, flop something big, and then make them pay. I put less emphasis on making them pay preflop. I would still raise with most of my good hands, including KQ and AQ in the back to get more money in, but in the front I may just limp in and let them call behind me with all kinds of junk. I think being overly aggressive in loose easy games is one of the biggest problems otherwise good players make.

The way you beat them for the most money is to outplay them postflop, not by trying to get an extra small bet or two preflop. (Outplay doesn't mean tricky play, the complete opposite.) Just play weak and passive in loose games. Limp in flop something or get out. You can do this tons of times and it will cost you very little. Since the players are playing so badly postflop, there is no reason to commit many chips preflop.

Now, in the example you gave above, part of the problem was that the flop was a trouble flop. Whenever the board is highly coordinated, you have to stay alert to the fact that you may already be drawing dead against a made hand. Flops where the board is all one suit or connected, like 9-T-J, are ones that will hit a lot of hands. I would suggest you don't put in too much money into these hands until you see how the hand is shaping up. In your hand, there was a third player that called two bets cold on the flop which should have signaled to you that he atleast had the King of diamonds as a draw.

One thought you may have is, "I'll raise and make him pay for his draw." The problem is that he may already have you beat and the extra bettting in a limit game won't get the draws out. I think the only mistake you made in the hand was to pay off the river.

So to sum it up, don't give up on AQ yet. In loose easy games limp in with it and flop something. In tougher games, play it more aggressively preflop and either make the first raise or put in the third raise to get heads up, after which you'll either hit a flop and continue or peel off the turn card and muck if you miss.

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