05-26-04, LearnTexasHoldem:
Suited Connectors In No Limit
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(generally play .25-.50 cent no-limit $50 max buy-in no-limit)
thanx again for your great articles!
Answer: Thanks for both the good question and compliment Melissa. I'm glad to hear that people are benefiting from the stuff I'm writing (a little appreciation goes along way in this world). Now for your question about suited connectors... If you have read some of my other articles, I'm not a big fan of the hand grouping tables. I just don't think they have much to do with real poker. To win your hand only has to be better then the other players hand (or you if you can get them to fold), you don't need Aces every time.
Also hand selection changes a lot from one game to another. For example, if you are playing a no limit tourney A9 is far better then KT. On the other hand if I'm in a loose cash game, I would much prefer the KT over A9. Hand grouping tables are just too rigid for real play. The ability to adapt your play is key to winning. AA is the best starting hand but in many low limit games, you'll be lucky to win with it since so many people call preflop. I would prefer 67s over AA in a wild game like that. Suited connectors in no limit are tricky because like you mentioned, when you hit your flush you don't have the nuts. If you get a lot of action on the hand, you most likely won't have the winner.
That doesn't mean I don't play them though. You just need to pick the right times. One time I wouldn't play them is when there is a big preflop raise and I'll be heads up with the person. You'll rarely hit your straight or flush draw and even when you do, you still have to catch to have a hand. Even if you flop two pair, if the person has an over pair and one of you goes all-in, he can still catch another running pair to beat you.
I would recommend that you play the suited connectors if it is a multi-way pot (3 or more people). You don't want to spend too much preflop with the hand unless you have a lot of other people calling to offset your big initial investment. Now for the Qxs and Jxs, there is no reason not to play those hands if you are playing in a really passive no limit game. You can make money with these if the situation is right. If there is rarely any raising preflop then I would definitely throw those hands in. You only have to invest a little amount preflop and if you catch something big, you'll win a big pot.
The more aggressive the game, the more raising there is preflop, the better your starting hands have to be. My last point for suited connectors is one that can be applied to all hands that are less then the nuts. My philosophy is that if it isn't going to cost me a lot then I'll pay the person off, it is then I'll just fold. An example of this would be if I have your 67s and have a flush but someone else probably has a bigger one. If the pot is already really large and I'm committed, then I'll call with the rest of my money. If on the other hand I have a lot of money left in relation to the pot, then I'll fold.
A hand like that happened to me recently. The board was 9-9-2-2-T and I had 93 in the big blind. A tight player called me all the way and then went all-in on the river. The pot was only a hundred bucks but his bet was over three hundred. Since I also had another three hundred I didn't call. If I had only fifty, I would have. The reason I didn't call was because the best case scenario is that I split the pot, the worst case scenario is that I lose $300 trying to make $50 (half the pot). It turned out he had quads deuces and he couldn't believe that I didn't call with my 9.
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