What are pocket queens?
Pocket queens are two queens as your hole cards, the third best starting hand in Texas Hold’em after pocket aces and kings. Players call them ladies. You are dealt them once every 221 hands, like any other pair, and only two hands are favourites against them before the flop.
How often do pocket queens win?
79.9% of the time against one random hand, all in before the flop. Against the hands that actually put money in with you, the picture is narrower:
| Queens against | Queens win (equity) |
|---|---|
| Pocket jacks | 82.0% |
| Jack-ten suited | 81.7% |
| Ace-queen offsuit | 69.7% |
| Ace-queen suited | 65.8% |
| King-queen suited | 64.8% |
| Ace-king offsuit | 56.8% |
| Ace-king suited | 54.0% |
| Pocket aces | 18.4% |
| Pocket kings | 18.1% |
Ace-king is the matchup that decides most big pots with queens, and it is close to a coin flip. Hands holding a queen, like ace-queen and king-queen, are in much worse shape because they need one of the two queens left. Every figure averages over all suit combinations, from our equity calculator’s engine; the ace-king offsuit figure is exact, from poker odds.
Like every pair, queens lose value as players join. Against random hands, all seeing the river, queens win 64.7% against two opponents, 44.5% against four and 24.6% against eight.
How do you play pocket queens before the flop?
Raise, re-raise a raise, and split against a 3-bet. What PlusEV’s 6-max cash solver ranges at 100 big blinds do with queens in each kind of spot, averaged over the spots of that kind:
| Situation | What the solver does with queens |
|---|---|
| First in, any seat but the small blind | Raise 100% |
| First in from the small blind | Raise 69%, limp 31% |
| Facing a raise | 3-bet 96.5%, call 3.5% |
| Facing a raise and a call | Squeeze 100% |
| Facing a 3-bet | 4-bet 56.2%, call 43.8% |
| Facing a 4-bet | All in 46.3%, call 51.6%, fold 2.0% |
| Facing a 4-bet all in | Call 93.7%, fold 6.3% |
The calls facing a raise all come against an under-the-gun open, where the hijack, cutoff and button flat queens 14% to 20% of the time. Facing a 3-bet, the split depends on the seats. Against a 3-bet from a blind, queens just call from under the gun and the hijack, split from the cutoff, and 4-bet from the button. Against a 3-bet from a later seat, they split about evenly under the gun and 4-bet every time from the hijack and cutoff. Kings, for comparison, 4-bet 90.7% of the time facing a 3-bet; queens are the first pair where calling becomes a real option. Why the split exists is covered in our 4-bet guide.
When should you fold pocket queens before the flop?
Almost never. Queens never fold to a single raise or a 3-bet in PlusEV’s ranges. They fold some of the time in only 6 of the 112 preflop spots they can reach, all of them facing a 4-bet or an all-in, and most of them in the blinds against an early-position 4-bet:
| Spot | Queens fold |
|---|---|
| Small blind, 3-bet an under-the-gun open, facing an all-in | 34% |
| Big blind, 3-bet an under-the-gun open, facing a 4-bet | 24% |
| Small blind, 3-bet a hijack open, facing an all-in | 23% |
| Under the gun, 4-bet a button 3-bet, facing an all-in | 16% |
An under-the-gun player who 4-bets or moves all in over a 3-bet holds aces or kings often enough that queens can fold some of the time. Everywhere else they get the money in or call.
Why are pocket queens harder to play than aces or kings?
Because overcards come so often. An ace or a king lands on 41.4% of flops, and by the river the board has no ace or king only 40.1% of the time. Aces never face an overcard and kings face only the four aces. At a 6-max table, a bigger pair is behind you 4.9% of the time when you hold queens, twice as often as with kings.
How well do players play pocket queens?
Well, by the standard of pairs. Across PlusEV’s 1M+ recorded training decisions, counting only spots where the solver has one clear answer and weighting every difficulty level equally, players choose the right action with pocket queens 91.3% of the time (4,436 answers from 812 players). That ranks queens 121st of 169 starting hands from most to least misplayed, better than aces (89.3%) and far better than jacks (74.1%, sixth most misplayed of all). Our pocket pairs guide has every pair.
The hard part with queens is not the preflop decision but what comes after it.
How do you play pocket queens after the flop?
This part is standard theory rather than our data. On a low flop with no ace or king, queens are usually the best hand: bet, and bet big in a heads-up pot, because many turns bring an overcard that slows you down. On a flop with an ace or king, check more often, especially against a player who called a raise, since their range is full of those cards. In pots with two or more opponents, one pair is worth less; pot control matters more than building a big pot. When you flop a set, which happens 11.8% of the time, play it fast in a multiway pot and consider slowing down heads-up in a 3-bet pot.
Pocket queens are the third best starting hand, a 79.9% favourite against one random hand and a narrow favourite against ace-king. Raise them, re-raise a raise, split against a 3-bet, and fold only against a 4-bet or all-in from an early-position player. The PlusEV preflop trainer drills every one of these spots until the right answer is automatic.
Quick answers
What are pocket queens called in poker?
Ladies is the usual nickname. Players also just say QQ or pocket queens.
What are the odds of being dealt pocket queens?
1 in 221, or 0.45% of hands, the same as any other specific pocket pair.
Do pocket queens beat ace-king?
Narrowly. All in before the flop, queens win 56.8% of the time against ace-king offsuit and 54.0% against ace-king suited. Players call it a coin flip.
Should you ever fold pocket queens before the flop?
Rarely. In PlusEV's 6-max solver ranges at 100 big blinds, queens never fold to a single raise or a 3-bet. They fold some of the time in 6 of 112 spots, all facing a 4-bet or an all-in, at most 34% of the time.
How often do pocket queens win against aces or kings?
About 18% of the time: 18.4% against aces and 18.1% against kings, all in before the flop.
How often is someone holding aces or kings when you have queens?
At a 6-max table, about 4.9% of the time one of your five opponents holds aces or kings. At a nine-handed table it is 7.7%.