CONNECTORS

[BILLABONG]

Suited or unsuited. Do you guys play them. If so when do you think the best time is for putting these drawing hands into action. I play them in late position on the button with many limpers before me (usally 3 or more limpers).

[|~|ypermegachi]

offsuit connectors lower than 98 are crap. don't play them. suited connectors i would play down to 43s on the button, and requirements go up as i move away from the button.

[Aceofone]

It depends... On table texture and experience. I will play suited and offsuit (because honestly, your not that safe with a six high flush) connectors, 1-gappers and 2-gappers intermittantly in mid-position all the way to the button for a limp. But I've been LAGGing it up lately, it's great if your postflop skills are good. I would not however, come into a raised pot with suited connectors less that 10-9 AND position though.

The more experienced you are, the more you can get away with playing these types of hands, and I feel they are much more profitable in NL, but I'm not a limit guy. Some of the Limit players could expound their wisdom in regards to usefullness of these hands at a limit table.

[DavSimon]

I limp with suited connectors any time I can. If the pot is raised much more than the minimum and I'm not in late position I will fold any suited connecors less than 9-T.
I used to not play them at all, but my post flop game has come along a bit...the only 1 gappers I will play are suited....and off suit connectors are J-T. I generally work on 1 aspect of my game at a time 'till I feel comfortable with it then add a new facet....low suited connectors are generally working out for me. Perhaps in a month or two I will add middle off-suit connectors and see how it goes.

[TylerK]

The answer is VERY different depending upon whether you are playing limit or no limit. In NL, the value of small suited connectors and small pocket pairs comes from their implied odds. This is why it is ok to play small suited connectors in a raised pot in NL. Say you play 54s into a raise and the flop comes 763, 54x, etc, etc. Against a raiser with AA or KK, you have a good chance of taking his entire stack. I can't count the number of times that I've called a raise with a small pocket pair and gotten all of a raiser's money in the pot after hitting a set on the flop. I won't speak for limit, but I'd imagine that the way these types of hands are played is MUCH different.

[Iconoclastic]

I like to play all suited/connectors if the implied odds are right. When the blinds are too high I will fold high suited/connectors. However, I like to raise low suited connectors, even three gappers, if no one has raised before me, preflop. It gives you a stronger table image if successful, not to mention blindsiding people who definitely do not put you on 85o. They're easy to get away from if you don't flop two pair or better, so you won't lose too much with it, but you can win a lot if you play it right. Early in a tourney you'll get the implied odds with this kind of aggressive play. Later on you'll pick up blinds.

But knowing when to do this is crucial. Search for other FTR threads about blind stealing to see when not to be aggressive.

[elanto]

Ill usually only limp in with suited connectors when im on mid position or late position, ill never play unsuited connectors, unless i have JT on the button and the pot is unraised. I will also only play suited connectors when their are a lot of people in the pot, if im in late position and so far their have only been 2 callers i will usually fold. Just my 2 cents



-anto

[SteveO]

I only like Broadway suited connectors, AK, AQ KQ J10 suited. I junk anything lower. Looking for 2 pair or a strong draw or at worst top pair with a reasonable kicker. I avoid the low connectors and lurk waiting for that small pocket pair to make a set.

IMO with the low connectors you are looking for a miracle flop or draw. Sure it will pay off very big every once in a while, but you will bleed money in the long run on those hands.

However, if you are in a really weak and passive game with 5 or more limpers, by all means go ahead and look for the miracle.

In a tournament, never play low connectors except for very early rounds were blinds are tiny and everyone is limping.

[ryoung11]

i think suited connector are pretty harshly overrated. i normally dont play them thinking they're good hands but rather i play them as if i were playing a random hand unless it's JT or higher.

[a500lbgorilla]

Suited connectors are not good hands when you only see 5 cards (the flop) becuase their true beauty is in concealed two pair, straits and crub frushes not like AA which is a great hand after only 5 cards but has a little trouble seeing the river happily.

You've just need to adjust your play to getting free cards and making it to the river by justified pot odds and thick implied odds. Don't play them to outflop an opponent, you gotta play em to suck out on the river .

-'rilla

[highroller]

personally I love em! call me old fashioned, but Ill raise with them preflop, unless im fairly certain someone else has a high pocket pair then Ill just call.
I guess for me its because of their implied odds (in NL). If you get a beauty of a flop - such as top two pair, a set, a strait, maybe even a fllush - then you will prolly end up taken someones stack, who slowplayed their pocket bullets.

The style I play suited connectors is that im willingly to risk about 10-15% of my stack preflop (barring exceptions such as a read on someone). If I raised preflop with them, and got nothing on the flop and have a good read on my opponent that he doesnt have much of anything then Ill raise with them again. (porbably because im an aggressive player)

I hardly ever play the one or two gapper suited connectors, though if I can limp in with em then I prolly will.

If I was playing limit, i would hardly ever play the mid to low suited connectors, but since im a definite NO LIMIT man I love em because of the implied odds im getting.

[Brodie]

This may seem like a really stupid question, but what are you really looking for in terms of a final hand if you end up in a showdown when starting with suited connectors? Two pair? A Flush? The nut straight? Any straight?

I ask this because I usually feel very uncomfortable with hands that improve when I start with suited connectors. Obviously the nut straight is nice, but a baby straight with 67s (678910) scares the hell out of me because I'm concerned about JQ. And a flush scares me because there are a lot of higher flush cards that could beat me.

I really, really hate losing with a flush to a flush or with a straight to a higher straight, so I'm usually open to laying those hands down if someone shows a lot of aggression, so these hands just seem to cost me a lot of chips. But I'm sure everyone isn't waiting for the nuts, so what am I missing? Am I too concerned about these other hands and laying down too easy? Should I grit my teeth and take my medicine if I'm beat?

This whole post probably reveals that my post-flop play could use some help and maybe I'm not ready for suited connectors yet anyway....

[a500lbgorilla]

Figure out if your opponent has you beat and fold.

That's pretty vague, but that's the answer. A pair might do me nicely in one pot but a flush might not do it at all in another.

It's all relative.

-'rilla

[LockLow34]

I'm a limit player so let me add my thoughts.

I play very loose on the button, especially with several people in the pot, and even moreso if the pot was raised early and several people called. That often means the deck is rich with smaller cards and if you're holding 34 or 45 (suited or off) you've got a better chance at hitting 3 of a kind or 2 pair and winning a lot off all those folks raising and calling with AA, JJ, KQ, QJ etc.

(Biggest hand cracked to date with micro connectors: Aces full of 3's...limped with 2 4 on the button. SB raises and several callers so I call. Flop comes A 7 5. SB bets and 2 callers so I call. Turn is 3. SB bets out and I raise. He's a solid player and has a good read on me so just calls. River is 3. SB bets again, I raise again and he calls. Yummy.)

Conversely, if the pot is raised and at most 1 or 2 call, I'll muck all offsuit connectors won't play suiteds below 87 or 98, depending on who did the raising.

Off the button my standards go way up, and even in the CO you won't see me turning over offuit connectors below T9. As I get closer to the button I get progressively tighter, eschewing even hands like KTo from UTG in tight games.

I made reference in another post where once or twice a session I'll raise on the button with 1-2 early limpers with any connecting cards, even down to 43o. Sometimes I'll flop big and take down a nice pot. But don't do this very often.

[Brodie]

I think I've been playing a bit too scared in general, so perhaps I should have more confidence when I do make a baby straight or a low flush and concentrate on figuring out what the other guy has instead of bowing to the aggression. We'll see how it works out...

[koolmoe]

You need to know who's better postflop - you or your opponent.

Play small suited connectors when you have position and/or can outplay your opponent postflop. Muck them otherwise.

[highroller]

This may seem like a really stupid question, but what are you really looking for in terms of a final hand if you end up in a showdown when starting with suited connectors? Two pair? A Flush? The nut straight? Any straight?

well the thing I look for on the flop when I play small suited connectors is a straight flush! but since thats only happened once I usually have to settle for something else.
What I want is to make a set (say Ive got 6c-7c and flop comes 7-7-x), or a little two pair, or even a little straight (ive got 45s and flop comes 678, im not usaully worried someone flopped a higher straight than me but if a 9 or 10 comes off on the turn or river then I probably will fold.

[Hubris1]

Won't play 9 10 or 8 9, just because if you pull the ignorant straight the odds of someone limping in with A-k are always there. Which means you basically shouldn't even think of it as a potential for open ended. No one folds AK unless there's a push pre flop, and even then lot of folks will call that if the guy is short stacked.

My favor for the small connectors is entirely dependent on how close I am to the button. Might call or do a nice raise at the button, will fold them without a second thought UTG.

[elipsesjeff]

In limit, playing offsuited connectors lower than 10 is long-term suicide. Even with many players your chances of hitting the flop and winning is very minimal. Often, you have to hit the flop AND improve to win. With the abundance of players limping any Ace, chances are if you did flop a pair you are either outkicked or have a severe chance of being outdrawn. Even with lots of callers pre-flop, offsuited connectors are hardly +EV, from the button or not.

Suited connectors, are a completely different story.

I made reference in another post where once or twice a session I'll raise on the button with 1-2 early limpers with any connecting cards, even down to 43o. Sometimes I'll flop big and take down a nice pot. But don't do this very often.

...or at all! The fact that there are only 1-2 players limping in the flop makes this even more -EV. I'm not even calling a small blind with 34o, let alone raising from the button. Raising with 6-8 players seeing the flop from the button will have higher EV than with 2-3 players preflop. What is the purpose of raising with 34o from the button? To give the impression you're a fish? Most players that would pay attention to you would probably already know that you play 30% of the flops (borrowed from other post) and you dont have to prove that to them. Other players may think you are just trying to steal the blinds even with the other limper in there. With few players preflop, you can not build the pot large enough with 34o to play it, let alone raise it. If anything, you'll just get check called to the river and you wont be able to build large pots and probably lose the hand, as 34o rarely holds up.