AQ UTG early fold right?

[sng-sam]

Is this too tight?

[Dylan Wade]

You need to specify the tournament structure to answer any general question like this, but AQ UTG early hits the muck so fast for me on party and stars

[sng-sam]

stars. 5+.50 sng blinds 15/30 Hero has all his chips

[Vetstadium]

Fold and don't even think about it I continually fold this AJ etc early I do try to limp with any pocket pair even out of position but thats just me.

[MrMon]

Yeah, I always fold one of the Top 10 hands, even UTG early in the game. <sarcasm off>

Seriously, you have to learn to play this. Try to play it cheap. Limp if necessary. You want to see the flop. With tons of people behind you willing to play Ax, if an A hits, you're sitting pretty, assuming they missed the second card.
Which is the usual case.

Fold if you want to, but I'll at least TRY to play it.

[Dylan Wade]

Why try to push marginal situations in a 5.5 game when you can play it safe and get to the bubble almost everytime? Is the risk involved to gain a couple chips playing AQo early in a marginal spot worth it, in terms of final placing/payout? By risking chips in marginal spots youre throwing away a huge advantage...

[adanthar]

[ QUOTE ]
Is the risk involved to gain a couple chips playing AQo early in a marginal spot worth it, in terms of final placing/payout? By risking chips in marginal spots youre throwing away a huge advantage...

[/ QUOTE ]

No, you aren't. You're only throwing it away if you can't play it well enough to take advantage of the marginal-ness (read: horribleness) of the other players in the hand.

If it was really only a few chips, you might have a point, but the whole reason low buyin SNG's are easy is because A7 gives you his stack when an A flops.

If you can't play well enough (which is a possibility for anyone who is playing that low), disregard. You can figure out whether you are or not by the amount of times you feel lost on any given flop.

[Dylan Wade]

Well, I don't play it well enough..not utg... I'd probably play it more profitably at a higher limit (in terms of final placing), because the tightness brings more incentive to play early there. Could you, so enligten me to how would you play it profitably here... How do you get their whole stack with small blinds? Are you going to limp this pre-flop or raise? Are you planning to check re-raise allin if you flop an ace or (over)bet straight out? Are you willing to call a re-raise on the flop with TPGK against an agro player.?. are you willing to call a push pre-flop? Remember, youre going to get all A7's chips, not a few... i cant see myself ever putting all my chips in with AQ out of position in a nothing pot...

[Voltron87]

Open folding AQ is insane. I would raise from EP with it early or call a large raise, but if you always fold AQ early you are giving up a lot of +EV hands.

[Dylan Wade]

You would call a large raise with AQ from EP early in a SNG. why?

[Voltron87]

argh, i mistyped. I would call a small raise in position of if I've already limped. I meant I would fold it to a large raise though.

[Dylan Wade]

oh ok that makes more sense.. do you feel that TPGK is a high implied odds hand? If it were raised, and you got a nice flop, say, A27r or Q27r, and you bet pot, get reraised on the flop would you fold? also if you faced 6+ limpers, would you pot sized bet those same 'nice' flops (in EP)? What about flops like AJ7 A92 or A3T with 2 flushes on em

[Phil Van Sexton]

I think its marginal even for a good player. Whether its a side game or a tournament, I'm not too excited about playing AQ UTG.

If you have to ask, I'd say AQo is a fold UTG. AQs is a call. Once you get more experience, you can decide if you want to raise with it here.

[MrMon]

When you figure that tons of people play Ax even up to the $20 games I play in, playing AQ is pretty much a given. How you do it is a different matter. But because they do play Ax, two pair is a real possibility.

My stats show playing AQo from any position at 15/30, which was stated, is a 70% winning propostion. Playing it at 5/10 from any position is only a 33% win, however. Hmmm. Let's see why.

Interestingly enough, the problem lies not in playing AQ, but rather in what my opponents are playing. Rarely have I lost big to a dominating hand (AA, AK, or KK). This is actually pretty rare. (Losing big to smaller pocker pairs is rare as well, as if I don't catch A or Q on the flop, I'm out.) No, more often than not, I'm losing to absurd hands played to the river that happen to catch. My AQo vs A7s, where I have two pair by the turn, go all-in, he calls, and catches a spade on the river. That sort of thing. Them's the breaks early, but they aren't caused by playing AQo. They come from playing at all. Different story entirely.

[curtains]

I fold this in Party s+g's and don't fold on pokerstars in rd 1. It has something to do with the stack amounts, blinds and round times.