How to Play Ace-Queen Suited After a Raise and Three-Bet
DECISION POINT: In a full ring $2/$5 no-limit hold'em cash game an opponent raises from under the gun, then the player next to act reraises. It folds to you in the cutoff where you have been dealt A♦Q♦.
PRO ANSWER: In a full ring no-limit hold'em cash game, the range of hands with which a player should open-raise from under the gun should be fairly narrow.
When an unknown player in early position then three-bets the UTG raiser, you should assume by default that player has a premium hand range — i.e., (TT+, AQ+) — since most opponents in a live $2/$5 cash game would reraise only with big hands in these positions.
If the three-bettor only holds pairs 10x10x or higher or AxQx or AxKx, we are a significant underdog with A♦Q♦. We are not getting the right price to call for speculative value, so we should fold. Stacks would need to be much deeper in order to justify calling speculatively (looking for two pair or better or eight outs or more on the flop).
Generally, you should not invest more than about 5 percent of the effective stack preflop when only playing for speculative value. In this case, a call would represent more than 10 percent of the effective stack.
Our estimate of our opponent's hand range dramatically affects the ideal play with AxQx-suited in this hand. Against an unknown opponent in a live $2/$5 cash game, this is a fold by default. Against opponents who raise and reraise with many more hands, we may be able to continue with our hand.
However, with early position raises and reraises in a full ring game, we must be capable of folding premium hands preflop.
Folding is the best play.
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