How do you play pocket queens?

Open it and re-raise it freely. The hard spot is facing a re-raise and then a four-bet, where queens are often racing against ace-king or flipping against jacks and worse. Against most opponents you still get the money in, but against a player who only ever four-bets aces and kings, queens can become a fold. After the flop, an ace or king overcard arrives often, so a single bet of pressure does not mean you are beat.

This hand opens for a raise from every position, including under the gun.

Common mistake: Treating queens like aces against a tight player who has put in a third raise. The deeper the action, the more queens shrink toward a bluff-catcher.

Quick tip: Two overcards (an ace or a king) appear on roughly half of all flops. Plan for it instead of panicking.