Suited Connectors

I just dont get why lots of good players rate them so much.
I have been playing poker just under two years, in that time I have made over 10k so i am no donk, but I have never got why these hands are so good. Could someone enlighten me, heres my view on them.
(I am a cash player usually 50 or 100NL)

From what i can see you play these to either flop a draw or hit 2 pair/trips

Problems with hitting two pair:
1)If the board pairs it counterfits your hand or against top pair opp could quite easily hit his other card and again your screwed ,
2)Possible straights are there as you have connecting cards so you dont get paid by top pair as opp scared of straight or worse opp has straight.
Either way you win a small pot off top pair or lose a big pot to the straight.

Problems with hitting trips:
Trips are obvious even to fish so usually you will not get paid by top pair, So again you win small pot or lose a big one to opp with trips better good kicker or House.

Problem with flopping a draw:
So you have flopped a draw, you have exactly nothing. Most of the time you will not get odds to call, so you decide semi bluff, so your now commiting a decent amount of chips when your not the favourite usually 2 to 1 against. Not profitable.
So if you are lucky enough to hit your draw by getting priced in somehow, a flush doesnt get paid as like trips these are obvious even to fishes. So you hit a straight not as obvious, problem is there always seems to be a poss flush or board has paired, so you opp with 1 pair or hopefully two will not pay you as scared of possible hands out there , again you win a small pot or lose a big one.

Thanks for reading please let me know your thoughts

Yeah they suck Mad

I generally only play them with real good implied odds, massive multi-ways where I'm near to closing the action, or if I've got position on someone I feel I can outplay postflop.

I feel they're roughly 1/3rd as good as low pocket pairs.

dozer is spot on.

- they are not nearly as good as a small pp
- only good with position vs a player you can outplay, or
- multi-way cheap pots with high implied odds

I can tell I'm not playing very good poker when I notice I'm beginning to raise with sc's preflop.

Some of my most profitable hands. You're doing it wrong.

If you only play pairs and high cards, you won't get nearly the action.

You can play SCs to make moolah, but you also do it for balance.

Fnord just wants OP to think further. OP is already on the right track. Poker isn't a game where you can just give someone the answers......

That being said, Drew has it right too. I like them in position, and for the same reasons, but I am not afraid to open with them UTG once in a while for metagame.

Much like the debate regarding limp vs raise on small PPs in early position, you don't necessarily play SCs to make money on every hand. You play them so that when you hit your set of 6s on a 67K twotone board, you get paid because "he's shoving his damn draw again".....

I don't know nearly as much as the above posters but my 2 cents:

If you only play big cards and pps you would be pretty easy to figure out and thus be more exploitable, at least when playing observant opps.

It makes it tougher to put you on straightforward TAG ranges.

Also when you raise in lp and hit a strong hand its usually more disguised.

edit: what cardsman said basically

wow wtf drew?

Are you people new to the way I play online?

Most bots aren't programmed to play SCs...

I raise them in position, & limp em' behind a buncha limpers, but I've never even looked at how profitable they are for me to be honest...I've got bigger leaks in my game that need fixing...

...and not to mention, it makes it THAT much harder for your opp to put you on an accurate range on those tricky boards which often leads to a mental edge and another pot for you later on.

Pretty much what he said, although they will lose big pots when you stick it all-in on a strong draw and/or very big pot you built with prior aggression. I stacked off twice with them this morning when I had the best of the money and didn't get there.

It's all about widening your ranges to make it harder to put you on a flop, contesting blinds and getting in a position to exploit post-flop mistakes.

When I look at a lot of my hands from my opponent's perspective and try put myself on a range on an early street, I just laugh.

Straight flush FTW

Nope, people are just really retarded.

$1/$2 No Limit Holdem
PokerStars
6 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($233.00)
UTG+1 ($239.25)
CO ($191.00)
BTN ($173.50)
Hero ($314.65)
BB ($244.95)

Pre-flop: ($3, 6 players) Hero is SB Nine of Spades

3 folds, BTN calls $2, Hero raises to $10, 1 fold, BTN calls $8

Flop: Ten of Spades

($22, 2 players)
Hero bets $14, BTN raises to $28, Hero raises to $74, BTN goes all-in $163.50, Hero calls $89.50

Turn: Jack of Diamonds

($349, 2 players)

River: Jack of Hearts

($349, 2 players)

Final Pot: $349
BTN shows: Six of Clubs

Hero shows: Nine of Spades

Hero wins $346 ( won +$172.50 )
BTN lost -$173.50

$1/$2 No Limit Holdem
PokerStars
3 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
Hero ($277.40)
SB ($178.05)
BB ($191.00)

Pre-flop: ($3, 3 players) Hero is BTN Six of Diamonds

Hero raises to $6, 1 fold, BB calls $4

Flop: Six of Hearts

($13, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $10, BB raises to $24, Hero calls $14

Turn: Eight of Spades

($61, 2 players)
BB bets $36, Hero raises to $82, BB goes all-in $161, Hero calls $79

River: Five of Spades

($383, 2 players)

Final Pot: $383
Hero shows: Six of Diamonds

BB shows:

Hero wins $382 ( won +$191 )
BB lost -$191.00

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