PokerUpp

Playing AQ in limit Hold' Em is a very tricky endeavor. It requires you to have full command of the table, and be aware of your opponents tendencies.

While it is a good hand, AQ has only one absolute strength:

It dominates hands loose players will call a raise with [AJ, AT, KQ, KJ, JQ].
On the other hand, AQ has many weaknesses:

Years ago I posted a question on an internet forum, "what hand costs you the most money?" Most people responded with garbage hands: A6, 97, and KT type hands, so imagine the surprise when I said it was more likely that AK, AQ, JJ, or TT cost them the most money! i remember one response was along the lines of 'a blind monkey could win money with those hands'.

I call JJ the 50/50 hand because you'll like the flop about half the time.

JJ has many strengths:

Jacks are the 4th best starting hand overall
About 50% of the time you will have an over-pair or a set on the flop
Jacks are an easy hand to fold on bad flops
JJ also has its share of weaknesses:

About 50% of the time you won't like the flop (it will contain at least 1 over-card)
Jacks do not dominate many hands players call raises (or re-raise)with -AQ, AK, QK, QQ, KK, AA

In seven card stud poker a correct opening hand selection is a lot more important than in Texas Hold´em or Omaha, learn which hands to play with here

When you are making a decision with your starting hand ask yourself the following three questions:

1. Does my hand play better heads-up or multi-way?
2. Is my hand position sensitive?
3. What are the strengths and weaknesses of my hand?

In part 1 of this series there were appearances by three WSOP champs: Stu Ungar, Scotty Nguyen, and Phi Hellmuth. In part 2 we'll have two more champs, along with a fictitious hand of poker!

Now we'll take a look at hands 5-7, before we finish up with the top 4 hands in the third installment of this series.

The D.C. Poker Examiner breaks down a few great hands for going broke.

Every so often, a hand of poker is dealt that goes down in history. The players involved usually have no idea anything extraordinary is about to happen, and that's what makes them even more memorable.

Short handed definition defined and which hands to play in SNG's, multi table tournaments and more, read all about it