07-18-05, LearnTexasHoldem:
Low Flushes From Suited Connectors
Sure, if by chance I were to flop something like A23 rainbow, how can I lose? And sure, it´s an easy fold if I don´t hit anything.
My concern is when the flush hits. How can you bet your flush when you have a 5-high flush? If I´m up against one or two or maybe even three players, I´ll bet and hope to eliminate any higher draws. But against 6 or 7 players, I never feel comfortable with low flushes. And yet, the suited connectors require lots of action to profit.
If it matters, I might add that I mostly play single tables, where you make one mistake and your´e out of the game. But none the less, how safe is a 5-high flush against lots of players?
This is something I´ve been thinking about a lot, and I can´t seem to get myself to play the low suited connectors. Some help would enable me to open up my game some, which is always nice.
Thanks for a great site,
Kristoffer
Sweden
Top 3 Beginner Rooms
Answer: You said that you play single tables, so I'm assuming this is a single table sit and go tournament online. One big point that needs to be made is that a good holdem hand isn't a good holdem hand. What I mean by that is a hand like 54s might be something fine in a limit holdem game, or in a no limit holdem cash game, but a really bad hand in a sit and go tournament to call someone else's raise with.
Not all the strategy that applies to limit holdem translates to no limit and vice versa. No limit holdem has a bigger upside to playing suited connectors heads up and so on because you could break someone. The problem with these hands is that they rarely ever win. You aren't going to be giving up much if you avoid playing them in tournaments since you have a limited amount of time and chips. Each chip matters and the less gambling or risk you incur, the better.
Let me give you an example of the line of reasoning behind this: Let's say I'll give you 20:1 odds on a wager that you'll hit 10:1. That's a great bet for you and if you played it enough, you'll take all my money. The problem is, though, that out of 11 tries, you'll miss 10 times, which is fine if you have the rest of your life, but you don't in a holdem tournament. Draws in no limit holdem can be very costly if you are just calling and hope to hit for two reasons; number one, most of the time you won't hit and it will cost you a great number of your chips (both flushes and straights you'll miss 2/3's of the time); secondly, you give away your hand by just flat calling -- the chance of getting much action after the third spade hits on the river is pretty slim.
This brings me to my next point: Play strongly or get out with the draws (for no limit holdem tournaments). The main reason for this is so that you don't have to hit your draw to win. Now you can either make the players fold if they don't like their hands, or you can hit. By calling you limit yourself only to hitting to win.
Now, you specifically asked how to play these hands when you hit with them. First off, the more people in with you, the more your hand needs to be protected. An example of this concept might be if you have six callers preflop before you and you are dealt AA. You wouldn't make the standard sized raise here because there is so much money already in the pot. You need to raise enough to limit the field some. This is correct, but I think many new no limit holdem players take this concept too far post flop and end up either making less money with the strong hand or getting nailed by a bigger one.
No limit holdem isn't just a game of waiting for a made hand and pushing your chips all-in. What does that accomplish really? Do you want to force all the weaker hands out? Are you so worried about another spade hitting that you're willing to give up any extra action you may get by just putting in a regular sized raise? And if you do push all your chips in the middle, do you think the player with the bigger flush is going to fold?
Most likely the only person who will call you is the person who has you beat. Maybe even someone with a big redraw (like the Ace of spades) plus a pair may call anyway. Let's make a distinction between being up against one or two opponents and six or seven when you hit your small flush. With one or two opponents, if you make your small flush, I would put in a decent raise, but one that won't scare them off. Chances are they don't have a bigger flush.
With six or seven opponents, someone could have a bigger flush than you, but again, you've decided to draw to it so you've got to play it correctly now. I would raise a good amount, remember you can raise more with more people in. If someone plays back at you, then other considerations come in: their chip stack, your chip stack, amount of money in the pot, how they have been previously playing, how they have played in the hand (suggests what they have), etc.
Flush over flushes can be very painful, but there isn't much you can do. Even the best of players would have a very hard time mucking a flush unless the board was paired or there was four to the flush on the board. Lastly, back to the first point, if this is an area where you don't feel confident, you aren't giving up much by avoiding these hands -- especially in tourneys.
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