Playing Ace-Queen from Middle Position Pre-Flop: Cloutier/McEvoy v. Harrington

What do Cloutier/McEvoy and Harrington say about playing Ace-Queen before the flop from middle position?

First, what is middle position? According to Harrington, it's seats three through six at a 10-seat table.

Cloutier/McEvoy advise folding A-Q in seats 3 through 5 before the flop in the early part of a tournament (C/M 128). There is no specific advice as to later levels of a tournament. As for seat six, Cloutier/McEvoy advise playing A-Q if there are no raises in front of you. If there is a raise(s), fold (132).

Ok. What about Harrington? Dan has you playing A-Q from middle position by raising 85% of the time and calling the other 15%. And what about if you get raised or called? Harrington provides some examples to guide you:

Harrington (190-191): You're in fifth position and the player in third position opens for 3 times the big blind. According to Dan, you call with A-Q suited and fold with A-Q unsuited.

Harrington (191-192) You're in fifth position and the player in third position calls. Raise with A-Q suited, call otherwise.

Playing Ace-Queen From Early Position Pre-Flop: Cloutier/McEvoy v. Harrington

Just to be perfectly clear, this analysis compares T.J. Cloutier and Tom McEvoy's Championship No-Limit and Pot-Limit Hold 'Em to Dan Harrington's, Harrington on Hold 'em, Vol. 1. Specifically, this entry refers to the part of Cloutier/McEvoy's book that applies to No-Limit tournaments. Harrington's book is soley devoted to N0-Limit tournaments, so no clarification needed for him.

Ace-Queen is a tricky starting hand because you can be in a bind if you flop an A or a Q. Why? If an A, then your Q kicker is beat by someone who started with A-A or A-K. If you flop a Q, you've still got to worry about overcards on the flop and later rounds. So what do these two sets of experts say to do when you're holding A-Q in early position (which Harrington defines as the first two seats at a 10-seat table--a definition I'll adopt here)?

Cloutier/McEvoy advise you to fold, or at best, limp in and fold if you get raised when you're holding A-Q in the first two seats (C/M, pp. 128-129).

Harrington, who is generally considered a conservative player, advises playing the A-Q in early position (Harrington, pp. 182-83). He advocates raising with the hand before the flop, 75% of the time and calling 25% of the time (calls are just to vary your play). As for amount of raise, Harrington says 3-5 times the big blind. Harrington' s advice is apparently based on his belief that A-Q is a pretty good hand when there aren't a lot of players in the pot but not so good otherwise. Thus, an early position raise is intended to narrow the field.