A lot of your sessions in a cash game will be decided by how your big pairs perform. Often, you should be trying to make players commit a lot of their money before the flop when you’re best.

Bear in mind there’s a big difference between A-A/K-K and Q-Q. You should almost always re-raise with Aces and Kings, but Queens are a more marginal hand that you should mix up with calls and re-raises.

One of the hardest decisions in a no-limit cash game is when you’re being pushed all-in before the flop and you hold Queens. Here your decision of whether to call needs to be based on your knowledge of your opponent and the stack sizes involved. It’s very rare – though not totally impossible to fold Kings pre-flop – but usually you’re going to be happy to get your money in.

Playing the big pairs postfl op, however, is a real challenge and one of the defining tests that separate wining cash players from losing ones.