The Queen-Ten suit is one of the strong and quiet types of Xgtiger Casino poker hands.

It’s not a premium Rolls Royce like the Pocket Aces. Instead, it’s more than just a Volvo: fast, reliable, and safe. Nothing wrong with that in my book!

In this article, you will learn the following:

How to Play Queen-Ten Suited Preflop

3 Tips for Playing Queen-Ten Properly When You Miss the Flop

3 Tips for Playing Queen-Ten Suited When You Flop

Let’s get into it.

How to Play Queen-Ten Suitably Preflop

Let’s run every common preflop spot with Queen-Ten suited.

Unopened Pots

The Queen-Ten suit is strong enough to open-up from any position. Flashing with this hand will cause you to lose some expected value because you can’t deny justice by limping, and it will lead to you winning smaller pots on average.

Against an Increase

Your play when faced with a raise should depend on your position and the position of the raiser. Let’s divide this section into three groups:

• When you are in Middle Position or Late Position
• From the Little Blind
• From the Big Blind

Here are the table positions for your reference:

From Middle Position or Late Position

There are two schools of thought for playing against raises in cash games, both of which can be good:

3-bet or fold strategy.

A mixed strategy including both 3-bets and cold calls.

Both strategies have very similar expected value (EV) as long as you apply the appropriate strategy post-flop. So, you can choose which one is more comfortable for you or the one that seems to make more sense in your games.

Related article: Should You Stop Cold-Calling Cash Games?

If you want to use the 3-bet or fold strategy, 3-bet with Queen-Ten should sometimes be appropriate, but not always. To be exact:

Against a raised Early Position, fold Queen-Ten appropriately.

Against a rising Middle Position, and fold if you are in the Cutoff.

Against a Middle, Position raise, 3-bet if you’re on the Button.

Against a Cutoff raise, 3-bet from the Button.

If you want to go with a mixed strategy, you should only call Queen-Ten appropriately. This hand is not strong enough to 3-bet for value, nor is it weak enough to 3-bet as a semi-bluff. It’s in the middle, making it the perfect call in most situations. That said, if you’re on the Button against a Cutoff raise, specifically, you can mix between 3-betting and calling.

From the Little Blind

You should 3-bet with this hand against almost all positions in a 6-max game. The one exception is when Lojack is the player who raised it, in which case you can fold. In a 9-handed game, go wild against UTG, UTG+1, and also UTG+2.

From the Big Blind

When you are in the Big Blind facing a raise, you must vary your play based on the position of the raiser.

If Cutoff or Button raises, you can 3-bet or call (using a mixed frequency strategy is best according to preflop solver outputs). Against all other positions, just call and see a flop.

Against a 3-Bet

In high rake games, which are most poker games, preflop solvers show that Queen-Ten suited should sometimes be called and sometimes folded when out of position against a 3-bettor.

There is actually a huge penalty for calling a 3-bet and seeing a flop when most games have a “No flop, no drop” rule in place. This is why a strong hand should still hit the mud against a 3-bet sometimes.

When you are faced with a 3-bet and have an advantage in position, you should almost always call Queen-Ten accordingly. The exception to this is when you raise from Early Position or Middle Position and the player 3-bets well (with a well-developed 3-bet range), in which case you should fold.

Against a 4-Bet

Not all 4-bet situations are the same, so let’s split this section into two scenarios.

1. You 3-bet from Middle or Late Position and face a 4-bet from the open-raiser

You should basically fold in this area. The exception is if you’re on the Button facing a 4-bet from the Cutoff, in which case you can call because the ranges are so wide.

2. You are 3-bet from the Small Blind or Big Blind and face a 4-bet from the open-raiser

You should only call in this situation when it’s the Button 4-betting player. If not, make the fold.

Remember that it’s important to consider your opponent’s 4-betting tendencies. Against a tight 4-bettor, for example, you can usually comfortably fold Queen-Ten to suit their 4-bet, regardless of your/their position.

3 Tips for Playing Queen-Ten Suitably When You Miss the Flop (As a Preflop Raiser)

Tip #1 – Always bet after you 3-bet from the blinds unless the board is low and connected

The 3-bet range is so strong (see: range advantage) against the opponent’s calling range that you should always fire a small c-tay. The only time you should be careful and check (to check-fold) is when the board is low and connected — think 8-6-5. Those boards favor the caller. More information about this is in the following tip.

Tip #2 – Look at super-connected boards when you don’t have a real draw

I’m talking about boards like 8♥ 6♥ 5♣ or 7♠ 6♠ 5♣.

On boards like this, Queen-Ten can have a backdoor straight draw, but that’s not enough to justify putting any chips in the pot. The board is connected and better for the caller’s range than yours. This is because they have a higher concentration of low-medium pocket pairs and suitable connectors, so your overall strategy should be very passive in these situations.

Tip #3 – Always bet when you have a backdoor flush draw

When you have some kind of backdoor equity like a backdoor straight or flush draw, it’s best to bet. Many turn cards will allow you to continue semi-bluffing.

3 Tips for Playing Queen-Ten Suited When You Flop

Tip #1 – If you have two pair but a straight or flush is completed on the turn, you can check

When you have a strong poker hand, you should almost always lean toward building the pot as soon as possible. When you flop two pairs, trips, a straight, or a flush, you should always fast-play your hand.

That said, when a whole new class of strong hands occurs on the turn, such as a straight or a flush, then checking at least once in the lower classes of strong hands (such as two pairs) is part a good strategy.

For example, suppose you c-bet in position on Q♠ T♦ 6♠ and the turn is the 9♠. You may consider reversing this turn.

Your opponent will show his hand strength on the river at his bet size very often, and you will be able to raise the value very well (against small bets) or just call (against big bets). By playing it this way, you lose less than if you bet on the turn and call a raise. Plus, you’ll still have a chance to get good value against worse hands.

Tip #2 – When you flop top pair in a raised pot, lean into betting on the flop and checking the turn

On most boards, the top pair you hit with QTs won’t be strong enough to value a three-street bet.

Queen-Ten top pairs are usually worth betting two streets for value because your kicker will only be good (not great). When this is the case, it is usually better to take value by betting on the flop, checking the turn, and betting the river (instead of bet-bet-checking).

This way you give your opponent a chance to bluff on the river. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself in a clear value-tay spot on the river should your opponent recheck.

Tip #3 – If you have second pair and a flush draw, play passively

Second pairs are usually medium-strength hands that are best played passively, and they should still be played passively when you have a flush draw.

If you have been reading Xgtiger Casino Poker articles for a long time, you may remember that when you have a medium-strength top pair with a flush draw on the turn, you should bet on it, even if you check both top pairs . if it doesn’t have a flush draw.

But when you have a flush draw to go with your middle pair, it’s still not strong enough to get value. Instead, you can view it as a middle pair with an insurance policy.

Final Thoughts

There you have it, a 5 minute crash course for playing Queen-Ten better than the next guy!

If you enjoyed this article or want to know how to play other hands, please let me know which hand you would like to see covered in the comment section below.

Want to keep learning about the best way to play some beginner hands in No Limit Hold’em? See How to Play Pocket Sevens in Cash Games.

Until next time, good luck, grinders!

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