Which suited connectors to play

Open-raising with suited connectors provides an added benefit of disguising your hand, as opponents will tend to think your raise indicates big-card hands. That means when you raise with and the flop comes , your opponent will tend to think you've missed when in fact you've hit it about as hard as you can. You can also call raises from late position with your suited connectors, or even call from the blinds and play the hand from out of position. A big benefit of playing a hand like versus a preflop raiser is that if you do manage to make a straight or flush, you can win a big pot versus an opponent holding an overpair like aces, kings, or queens.

Suited connectors are essentially drawing hands — that is, they need to improve in order to win at showdown, and in most cases what you're drawing to will be either a flush or straight. In some rare instances you'll make two pair or trips with suited connectors, but that isn't necessarily what you're hoping for when playing them. The fact that you'll often be drawing — say, after flopping a straight draw — makes it even more advantageous to have position on your opponent, because you can either just call bets or check behind, deciding for yourself how much you are willing to commit when chasing your draw.

Besides position, you'll want also to be mindful of stack sizes when playing suited connectors. Ideally, you're hoping to win a big pot with them, and so it isn't worth calling a raise if you or your is short-stacked and you can only win so much should you make a big hand.

Especially in tournaments, if you're short you probably shouldn't be calling big raises or shoving yourself with medium suited connectors like or if you can afford to wait for higher-card hands, that is.

Similarly, it's not a good strategy to call raises with suited connectors if doing so eats too much into your stack. The idea most of the time with suited connectors is going to be to try to see a flop cheaply in order to win big — low risk, high reward. Having gotten to the flop with your or without investing too much to get there, if you miss the flop entirely, don't feel bad about letting your hand go when your opponent continuation bets.

Or if you were the one raising preflop, it's okay to abandon ship if the flop is bad for your hand. If you sense your opponent might fold to a continuation bet, by all means go ahead and bluff and take the chips being offered to you.

Ready to Play? Need help getting set up on PokerStars? Watch this short video on How to download and install PokerStars. Quick Links Learn Courses View all courses. Articles View all articles. Monthly Leader Boards Join a tournament. Discord Join our Community. You can call 3-bets with suited connectors with deep stacks.

However, their value drops massively when the stack size is reduced to 50 blinds. This usually happens because implied odds have reduced. Therefore, you will need to invest more to see a flop compared to your potential win.

Suited connectors can produce a nice payout if you play them well. They need to be played from the right position , at the right time and with a deep stack. It is, therefore, no surprise that many players fold suited connectors. Should you fold them too? Playing suited connectors can be good news for your range and your image. There is also the chance of hitting straight or flush.

The only problem I think is playing suited connectors too often. If you mix it up every now and then, you should be fine. Therefore, before playing suited connectors, you need to ask if it is worth playing in that scenario.

Hence, the answer is yes. Suited connectors are worth playing of the elements are right. I play suited connectors around one-third of the time, through a mix of 6max and full ring games. There are many experienced poker players who play these hands, and they do just fine. Your aim should be to master how to play suited connectors correctly so you can play them in a more profitable way. With the information above, you should be able to play suited connectors without much hassle.

Preflop Postflop. Middle Suited Connectors. Graph of all suited connectors. Broadway suited connectors are money makers as they often bring a broadway draw plus a chance to hit a strong top pair.

But how about 32s-T9s suited connectors? Read below to find out. Table of Contents. In this article, I will focus on this suited connectors. They represent only 1. My graph of 65s to T9s suited connectors. I lose less than I would by folding them and losing due to blinds. But they are not great hands by any means. I would very often continue to play it aggressively on the flop with a continuation bet. My winrate of mid suited connectors by position 65s-T9s.

If one player opens a hand and then there are three callers including you , it is really hard to figure out where you are in the hand. You might end up in a scenario where your trips or your flush are actually the second best hand because someone else also overcalled with a fairly weak hand that still dominates your suited.

Instead, the software much more prefers throwing in a few light squeezes to take control of the pot and try to better establish the situation in the hand. In fact, Snowie advocates for a fairly wide 3-betting squeeze range that involves quite a few suited connectors.

So, although it may seem more natural to just call and see the flop with some of these hands, taking a more aggressive approach is actually a better option in these situations. But you should always make your final decision based on the players you are up against. The takeaway from this article is that suited connectors certainly have an important role in your overall poker game but you need to use them correctly.

Keep in mind these hands are best played against deeper-stacked opponents as the bulk of their value comes from implied odds and successful semi bluffs. Hopefully, some of the advice contained here will help you shape your strategy and avoid some of the pitfalls that are inherent in playing suited connectors.

Suited Connectors Strategy for Different Stack Sizes Just like small pocket pairs, suited connectors are hands that tend to realize most of their equity after the flop, through value bets or semi-bluffs that get there or get your opponent to fold the best hand. To 3-bet or not to 3-bet?

Overcalling with Suited Connectors — Tips For all the reasons already discussed in this article, it can be so tempting to try and overcall with a suited-connector type hand and try to see the flop. Conclusion: A Powerful Weapon When Used Right The takeaway from this article is that suited connectors certainly have an important role in your overall poker game but you need to use them correctly.

Summary: Suited connectors gain value when effective stack size increases These hands are very week when you are short-stacked It works as a great 3bet bluff hands because of added playability post-flop Contrary to popular belief, you should not be overcalling much with suited connectors.