How do you guys feel about calling pre-flop raises with AQ offsuit out of position, and in position. Now if it is a tight raiser i fold AQ offsuit to a 5BB raise or bigger regardless of position. I have just been burned to many times when an A comes on the flop and I raise to find where i am and I get called (AK??AA??AJ??) How do you guys deal with this??

I would much rateher have a SC or a small PP in this position. It is just so hard to judge where you are? Am I an idiot or do you guys have some of these worries too? Thank again ahead of time I know ill get some good responses..

I think you did a good job of answering your own question. The only time I would call is if the guy is a complete maniac - and even then reraising is probably better. I'm to the point now where I usually don't call raises w/ AKo either. Calling w/ AQ is bad juju no matter what your position.

I think you need a read in order to make such a call.

My current position on this: Call raises with AK or PP and nothing else as standard procedure. Any other call needs a read (with a plan for playing the hand).

I'll go so far as to propose the following hypothesis: Many of us have shown a profit calling raises with suited connectors solely because there are so many lousy raisers out there (i.e., weak in one form or another).

man i hate calling any raises w/ AQ. i mean, i can distinctly remember hands where i limped w/ like [Qc] in early position, followed by a few limpers, then a blind min raises, we all call...and i'm praying an A or Q doesn't hit. maybe that's just weak tight, though.

People say that AQ is a trap hand (and it is) but you have to remember that the pure trap hand is AK.

How many times have you or I lost with AK when we hit TPTK in NL?

I have folded AK suited (in live games) several times and been a happy camper. Online I will play AK more often to a raise.

Live there was a raise to $12 and a re-raise to $30 - I mucked AK hearts and was happy. The first player went all it.

Two pocket pairs and no ace or king hit the flop.

Jav - I agree with your comments about AK. I saw a player with AK lose his entire stack to 22 when the flop was A 2 5 and two hearts.

Three players saw the raised flop. First player (heart draw) bet $20, the 222 player smooth called, the AK re-reaised $100. The flush draw was short stacked and called all-in. The 222 player pushed $400 all-in the AK player called with his last $300.

No - the player with 22 now had a stack of well over $800.

The AK 's mistake was making a $100 re-raise after the middle player smooth called. I think that I might have gotten away from that hand.

The same thing happened to me and I could not get away from it.

Live NL200 game.

I had a bad hand MP and the UTG made it $6 pre deal. 2 fold

I made it $16 hoping to fold a few and flop good (too small a raise). CO called.

BTN made it $32. UTG called, I called (mistake either re-raise or muck)

CO called. Pot $120.

Flop was . I figured my two pair was good.

UTG checked, I checked, CO checked and BTN make a $20 bet. UTG checked, I re-raised to $100 into a $140 pot hoping that I am not betting into a set and wanting to kill any diamond draws.

The next player (young Chinese kid) thought and looked at his $240 then called my $100. I did not like that.

BTN and UTG folded.

The Turn was and I never in my life though that the CO had so I pushed to put the CO all-in. Of course, he called with his last $140. I was not going to fold now with top two and a $340 pot for $140 so I figured pushing was better than checking.

His straight held up.

It was nice of him to give me 1:11 odds since his only out was a Ten or running diamonds.

In retrospect I should have

1) mucked my preflop.
2) raised more that $10 preflop
3) re-raised or mucked when the BTN made it $32.
4) bet out on the flop strong instead of going for the check raise.

If I had gotten heads up with the BTN that would be cool.

Problem is that I do not like Ace Jack that much and I only need to call $16 to win $120.

Comments?

AQ OOP at a full table is a pretty easy muck, AQ is too hard to tell where you are at unless you flop the nut straight, which is likely to get paid, but every legit raising hand has outs.

Six max I frequently take a flop with it, and if I was the first one in the pot I raise it about 75% of the time. I then play harder or softer based on who is calling me and the current board if I hit. I will fold it in the blinds or even on the button if the raise is over called, especially more than once. Usually when I re-raise it is all in, I can only think of re-raising AQ big once and it was to isolate a SB lower level primate from UTG, the primate folded and the BB called with JJ, I hit my Q on the flop for a massive pot. That was probably not the play of the day for me even though it worked out.

Even six max I limp it a good deal of the time and am reluctant to call a raise if it isn't suited vs. a credible raiser. I'm more prone to taking a flop against a button or cutoff raiser that is known aggressive in late, and a knucklehead that is any position.

AQ is a winning hand for me, I think it is combination of limping and raising it properly and letting it go in raised pots to heat from someone I respect and pushing harder against those that I don't. The danger is opponents that are as likely to hold AK as AT, because you wind up play a bigger pot than AQ warrants against that guy.

Full table cash games, I think open raising it settles most of your debate on how to play it later in the hand from OOP. It is pretty easy to muck to a real reraise, fine to take a flop to a weak raise and play TPGK TPTK accordingly. AQ has the beauty of JJ-99 played aggressively in that you can easily hit the brakes or the gas, and not get trapped up.