Ak Vs Qq Preflop
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- The most common 'flip' situation you'll see (or more likely be in) is the classic pair vs. Eg AK vs 99 or AJ vs 77. This works for any pair and overcards (even 22 vs 34, for example). Truthfully the odds aren't.exactly. 50/50 in these scenarios but they are close enough that they are considered a coin flip.
- There are three kinds of players. Those who play AK/QQ too passively preflop. Those who play AK/QQ too aggressively preflop. And players who play AK/QQ perfectly.
Some players prefer to have ace-king (AK), and there are ones who are more thrilled to see QQ in their hole cards. But if you are an experienced player like me, you will be pretty satisfied to see either. It is no secret that both are excellent hands.
But which makes you more money? Which hand does better preflop, and which postflop? How about heads-up and in multiway spots? With more than 5 million hands that I played online, I have plenty of data to share with you and answer all of these questions and more.
The point is that this is a very difficult hand to get away from preflop deep into a tournament. Early periods of tournaments. Early on in tournament, you don’t really need to gamble as much with AK and your fast preflop play isn’t rewarded very much if you just manage to collect the pitiful blinds. Try making it worthwhile by raising 5-6BB.
Many people simply say it is a flip when you put ace-king against pocket queens.
But how good is ace-king against pocket queens actually in terms of raw equity (if both players would go all in every time and nobody folds)? Well, actual odds are a little bit different. For someone who also plays a lot of Omaha lately, every percentage matters. AK, including both suited and off-suited combinations, has 44% equity against QQ. This is quite a few percentages away from a flip. But there is more to hands than just the raw equity.
Ace King vs. pocket queens preflop
If we compare AKs (ace-king suited) against QQ, then we have 46%, which is better – suited hands always have a little more equity. And AKo (ace-king offsuit) has a 43.24% chance to win. When postflop play doesn’t matter, then you would be happier holding QQ every time, it simply has more equity. Even when you are up against more opponents, this doesn’t change.
Both hands are at the top of our range and are really good hands. Look at the graph of both (images below), and you will notice a big, straight line up. Both are great money making hands. There aren’t any big swings, just consistent profit, once you have a large enough sample.
Both hands are good enough to 3bet preflop with for value. Depending on how loose the opponent is, these can be good enough to stack off even preflop.
But poker plays primarily postflop, so it is essential to check how different flops affect our approach with these two hands.
AK vs. QQ postflop
Pocket queens postflop
Pocket queens aren’t a sure thing to win postflop, far from that. Even pocket aces don’t win all the time. But if played correctly, it can result in a nice steady wins time after time. The biggest problem is, of course, overcards on the flop.
How often do you think you will see an overcard on the flop when you hold QQ? Actually quite often.
Whne you hold QQ, you will see an overcard a bit more than 42% of the time on the flop. If we discount the times that we flop a set, then the odds to see overcard on the flop and we didn’t hit a set is 38%.
So more than one-third of the time, if we are faced with pressure from the opponent, we need to give up our hand, maybe not on the flop, but certainly on turn on the river. But at times, we also get free showdowns, where we are faced with only one street of bet, and the rest is checked down. You can expect to win a fair share of those small pots.
In a scenario where we don’t see the overcard and flop is not to draw heavy, we can usually extract 2 streets of value, sometimes three, and this really makes for a majority of our winrate – along with 3betting the hand preflop of course.
When the flop is full of draws, imagine 789 with two spades flop, then it is best to pot control with our hand. We still do okay in terms of equity, but building the pot is not smart anymore.
Ace King postflop
Ace king is a good hand to have postflop. We will hit top pair around 30% of the time. Sometimes we will also have the nut flush draw or a gutshot straight draw or other backdoor draws, like a backdoor straight draw.
All is not lost if we miss the flop. We can apply aggression and bluff on some of the driest flops, or just take a free card or call one street to see if we improve.
Every time we hit a pair on the flop, it will be top pair with a top kicker (assuming board doesn’t pair). This allows us to extract the value of all the draws and other top pairs with a lower kicker. We can very often go for two streets of value, sometimes even all 3.
As you can see, my AK winrate is very smooth, with no big swings. Pretty much, AK is a consistent money maker. There are some draw heavy boards where it is best to just give up, for example, 789 with 2 spades board, might still be fine to call a bet on with QQ, but AK isn’t good enough call a bet. It is best to give up and look for a better spot.
Ace King vs. QQ multiway
The general idea is to not bluff in multi-way pots. Therefore folding with AK will often happen if you don’t hit anything on the flop. It is the best decision to give up and wait for better spots.
On the other hand, on many flops, QQ can bet or at least call a bet. If we hit a set, it will more often than not be a top set, and then we get paid off nicely if someone else has a good enough hand willing to play for stacks.
Position matters
Like with any hole cards in poker, position matters with AK and QQ also. We often have a different strategic plan when we are in position, compared to out of position. Playing in the position, we can pot control more and have easier decisions on the river.
With AK, if you miss the flop, it is much easier to bluff in position as you get to see opponents’ actions first before you make yours.
On some flops, it is better to make a cbet with QQ when OOP (out of position), where on the same board, we would check back and take a free card if we were IP (in position). Therefore it is no surprise that with both hands, it is easier to play in position.QQ can withstand more pressure from opponents, even when out of position.
Winrate comparison of pocket queens (QQ) vs. Ace king (AK)
As you can tell both, Ak and QQ are substantial winners. The graph goes up smoothly for both. I can’t imagine anyone would be losing money with either of those. But QQ significantly outperforms AK. Winrate is more than doubled. I have quite a significant sample of 6max, and Full ring games and my winrates are the following:
- 150 bb per 100 hands (150bb/100) for AK.
- 360bb per 100 hands (350bb/100) for QQ
This means that for every AK I get dealt, I win one and a half big blinds. Which is a great result! For QQ, I do even better with 3.6 big blinds every time I receive them.
Just a side note, do you see how big of a thing it is if we get a fold by everyone preflop when we open? We win as much as if we would be holding AK, with no need to play postflop.
Conclusion
Preflop QQ is a better hand, it will win more often, and it also beats AK with a small equity advantage.
When it comes to postflop, you were able to see that both hands are really good. In some scenarios, AK does better, especially postflop when A or K is present on the board, but on those times, we also can let go of our pocket queens quite easily. The other times QQ can extract value from all the top pair types of hands and lower overpairs.
While it makes sense to bluff often with AK, with QQ, we already have strong showdown value.
Bluffing often with QQ doesn’t make sense, but still be cautious to not inflate the pot blindly for what you might wrongly believe is value betting. It is better to check and pot control sometimes, depending on the board and your position.
If I would need to choose, I rather have QQ both preflop and postflop, except for multiway spots, where I am fine having AK (but QQ still does better).
Useful links:
- Ace King (AK) vs. pocket deuces (22)
Pocket queens and ace king are two hands with very similar equity. As a result of the similar equity, players often find themselves in situations where they are unsure what to do when holding QQ or AK. There will be a number of spots where your opponent too could be holding either AK or QQ.
As a general rule of thumb, it is better to have QQ than it is to have AK. If you happen to run up against AA or KK when holding AK, you don’t have the greatest of odds. Now, if you have QQ against AA or KK, you are still a sizable underdog, but catching up is within the realm of possibilities.
The true dilemmas with these two hands is almost always found pre flop. These are the borderline hands where it could be ok to go all in, but it could also be ok to fold against some major pressure. The limits and flow of the game you are in will help in determining what the proper play is, but these hands will remain tricky nonetheless.
QQ is a hand where you could think “Wow, he folded QQ?!?!,” but also think, “Why didn’t he fold QQ,” the very next hand. As is often the case with poker, QQ and AK are situational hands that depend on a number of variables.
Your Position and Your Opponent’s Position
Ak Vs Qq Preflop Odds
If you are in late position and are holding QQ or AK, consider yourself lucky. Position will almost always make playing a hand that much easier. QQ or AK can be particularly dangerous when out of position because they can be bullied around. When you get to play these hands in later position you will also have the advantage of fold equity.
You could decide to go all in without worrying about having the best hand at showdown. Sometimes forcing a fold is just as good as getting a call, especially when the only hands that will call are likely to have you beat.
An Example With QQ (or AK)
Ak Vs Qq Preflop
Imagine that you are under the gun (first to act) and are dealt pocket queens. Your initial reaction will be that you have a great hand to play, and this would be spot on. The standard play would be to make an open raise, usually to something around 4x the big blind.
The real action, though, will come after your initial raise. If the other players simply call your raise or elect to fold and get out of the way, there isn’t a lot of thinking required on your end. When you get re raised, however, it can be quite difficult to accurately determine what the best play is.
On one hand you have pocket queens, a very strong hand, but on the other hand you will be crushed by AA or KK and are chopping the pot with AK. You need to then decide whether your opponent would re raise with nothing or a hand that you just barely have beat.
There is a very legitimate chance that a player who has position will either make a light three bet or raise your bet with a hand like TT or JJ. Your job is to identify whether you are likely ahead or behind and how you should play the remainder of the hand. If you think that you are ahead, you should try and get all of the money in the middle before the flop is even dealt.
The problem with this, though, is that you will often force a fold from the only hands that will three bet you yet still be behind pocket queens. On occasion, and depending on the particular game, you will be able to get a player all in with AQ, JJ, or even TT. These will be the only times where getting QQ is very profitable in the long run.
If you open pre flop with QQ, are three bet, and then decide to flat call, you are still going to have a lot of issues after the flop. If an ace or a king comes you will need to analyze whether or not your hand is still the best. Plus, even if it is the best hand, your opponent will be able to easily represent an ace or a king.
In addition to this is the fact that you will now struggle to extract value from your once strong pocket pair. As you can see, there truly are never ending land mines with pocket queens. Though this example used QQ as the pre flop hand, the similarities between QQ and AK are evidenced in that AK would be played almost the exact same way. Your approach with QQ and AK should seldom be different and you will always need to adjust to the exact circumstances.
Fold Equity
QQ and AK are typically worthy of some big pre flop action regardless of whether or not you end up going all in. If you do decide to go all in pre flop, try to ensure that you are putting in the last bet. The odds of profitability increase dramatically with QQ or AK when you are the one placing the last bet or raise vs. calling the last bet or raise. The reason for this is because you will be able to force folds on occasion.
When this happens you will be able to take down the pot without any need to see the board. Beyond this, when you are the last player to make a bet you will get more calls from weaker hands. It is rare for a player to call off their stack with AK or QQ and have someone completely dominated, though it certainly does happen. In the end, you could be ahead with AK or QQ whether you are placing the last bet or calling the last bet, but your profitability and win rate will be much higher when you take the last initiative.
Further Reading:
- Also check out our post, How to Play Pocket Queens for further discussion on playing QQ.