While there is no argument that QQ is one of the most powerful starting
hands in no limit Texas holdem, it also can be challenging to play
correctly. The trademark of a good player is one who can win big pots while
losing small ones. What this means is that the best players minimize their
losses when they do lose a hand and maximize their profit when they win. QQ
is one of the starting hands that separate the winning players and the
losing ones.

When you are first to act or the first player who hasn't limped into the
pot, you should raise most of the time. There are two reasons for this. The
first is you don't want anyone to see the flop for cheap, especially hands
with an Ace and small kicker. The second reason is that you need to do
everything you can to find the strength of your opponents hands. By raising,
if one of your opponents re-raises and/or moves all in, you will have a
difficult decision to make, but you may be able to get away from the hand if
you think your opponent has AA or KK. This is the absolute worst position to
be in. In addition, QQ plays best against one or two opponents. You should
keep all of your pre flop raises roughly the same to not give away the
strength of your hand, usually three or four times the big blind.

Playing QQ after the flop is usually straightforward. If you have shown
strength by raising pre flop, continue to show strength until one of your
opponents convinces you that they have a better hand. This includes when an
Ace hits on the flop. You must bet to represent an Ace in your hand. If you
check, you are giving your opponents permission to steal the pot from you,
as you will have to fold to a bet. When you bet and an opponent calls or
raises, you then must decide if they actually have a better hand or not. In
most cases they will have a better hand because you have shown strength two
times and they should respect your hand, unless you have been playing too
loose.

There are a few situations in which I will check after the flop. They both
happen when I am in the hand with an aggressive opponent and I feel I have
the best hand. The first is when a Queen hits on the flop giving me trips.
By checking, rarely will a free card hurt me if my opponent doesn't bet and
this gives them a chance to bluff off more chips to me. The other situation
is when the flop doesn't have an Ace and appears ragged. My plan when this
happens is to move all in when my opponent bets after I check. There is
danger in both of these situations, especially the later one. Your opponent
may have hit a set, in which case you will be drawing almost dead. However,
I have found that the times they can't beat my hand far outweigh the times
they can, so these situations are profitable. The key to both of these is
that you must be sure your opponent will take the bait and bet. Giving free
cards can be harmful. I do not do this when two cards of the same suit are
on the flop unless I did flop a set. When you flop a set, you have many outs
to a full house, even against a flush. The other thing is that these plays
do not work very well against the best competition. They will respect your
hand and will be less likely to bluff at the pot after you check unless you
do a great job of acting weak. After showing pre flop strength, this is
often difficult.

This article is written by Tom Ake at Royal Poker Online where you will
find alot of Online Poker Room Reviews