A Starting Hand of Ace and Queen

Everyone knows what to do when your hole cards are AA, KK, or AK, but sometimes you get a hand that is a little more difficult to figure out exactly what to do with it. When your hole cards are an Ace and a Queen you are entering some very tricky waters.

Why this is tricky is that it looks good on the surface, but there is the very real chance that somebody else at the table is holding something that will beat it. If you're in late position and no one has taken the dive into the pop yet, this would be a good time to raise. Of course before you do so, hopefully you have ascertained the personalities of the people at the table with you. It would be a very bad thing if somebody was lying in the weeds just waiting for someone to start raising.

From an early position, if the blinds are low then the safe play is to limp in. Your not working with a lot of information about your opponents hands yet, and you want to avoid being re-raised at this point.

In a situation where the blinds are high, winning them will improve your chip status. You may then raise to three times big blind, but avoid going all-in.