I hate A-Q and K-Q

I decided to take a stab at some bigger no limit hold 'em tournaments at my local casino in early 2006. I felt very confident in my game and just wanted to take a shot and see if I could make a big score. In one tournament I got off to a good start and was catching a lot of premium hands. I managed to double my initial stack of 2000 without ever showing down a hand. I tried to eliminate a short stack with 4-4 in what I thought was a race situation. It wasn't. He had 5-5. After the antes started to kick in, I was holding my own, but not accumulating chips at the rate I needed to. Catching a lot of bad hands will also do this. However, I was delighted to pick up Q-Q in late position.

There was a raise from a middle position player and I decided to reraise all in with my queens. I had this player covered by a bit, so I knew my tournament life was not on the line. He thought about it for a long time and the longer he thought, the more confident I was in that my queens were the best hand. He eventually called me with A-Q and hit his ace on the turn. I was now short stacked and had one move. A few hands later the player I doubled up earlier who held 5-5 put in a small raise. I looked down at K-Q and decided it was time to take a stand. I reraised all in and he called me with A-K. Needless to say, my hand didn't hold up and I was eliminated.

A few days later I took another shot at a tournament. Again, I was off to a good start and picked up Q-Q 3 times in the first level. I managed to maintain a below average to average sized stack through the tournament but managed to get deeper than I did a few days prior. With about 60 players remaining and 27 getting paid, I went on a bit of a hot streak and managed to steal blinds and antes to get me to a more comfortable chip level. I get moved to a new table and end up doubling up a short stack with my As-6s vs. his 3-3. A few hands later I'm in 2nd position and I see A-Q. The player under the gun had just dragged in a big pot and limped. To me, that limp was a sign of a weak hand. I figured this player was just "playing the rush" and wasn't too strong. I pushed all in and when the action came back around to the limper, he called. He had A-K and I was out.

I think these examples just confirm what people say--A-Q and K-Q are trap hands. While they look good, you are easily dominated. When you are dominated, you usually don't win the hand. It is just that simple. Now I'm not saying that you shouldn't play A-Q or K-Q, but you just need to do so carefully.