Suited and booted

Suited connectors – hands like 6♦-7♦, J♠-10♠, 4♥-5♥ (my personal favourite) and 8♣-9♣ are oh so pretty. You peel up your cards, look at them and can’t help but get excited. They’re just filled with potential. But are they really all that? Players will swear by them – but do they actually fulfil their promise or do they leave you high and dry? Let’s examine suited connectors before the flop: why they work; when they work and how best to use them.

STUDY THE IMPLICATIONS

	If your stack is big enough, you should not be afraid to limp in with suited connectors when you’re in late position

Suited connectors are said to have great implied odds, meaning of course, that you can see a flop relatively cheaply and win a huge pot. It’s little risk for big rewards. We like that – who wouldn’t? But let’s take a closer look at them.

In this very hypothetical scenario, the blinds are 100/200 and our opponent has raised it up to 500. He accidentally flipped over his pocket Aces and you know there’s no way he’ll ever fold them, not only that, but he’ll move all-in on the flop regardless. You take a look at your cards and you have 6-5 suited. How much do you have to win to be able to make this call profitable?

A hand like 6-5 suited will beat Aces 22.87% of the time and tie 0.37% of the time. So, based on that, we want to make at least 2,000. You’ll beat Aces approximately one out of five times. The first four times, you lose 500 each time, so you better make at least that much to play it profitable. Right? Not exactly…

Your 6-5 suited will beat Aces that often if – and only if – you get to see all five community cards. I’m not sure about you, but if I know my opponent isn’t going to fold then I’m not that keen on putting my money in on the flop as an underdog, which I’ll almost always be when I’m drawing.

I’ll flop two pair (using both of your cards) or trips 3.37% of the time.

With 6-5, you’ll flop a straight 1.31% of the time. That’s good – I like my chances with a straight against Aces.

If they’re suited, I’ll flop a flush 0.84% of the time.

I’ll flop a straight flush draw very rarely (one of the few times you’re drawing, yet a favourite to win the hand).

Finally, I’ll flop a full house or quads even less often.

Now, if you know your opponent will never fold Aces, these are the only flops I’m looking for. It doesn’t look very good does it? Your 6-5 suited will only be ahead or a favourite to win the hand 6.5% of the time.

This would suggest that you’d have to make approximately 15 times your original bet to make this hand profitable. In this silly hypothetical example, we know our opponent has Aces and we also know he can’t fold them. That’s not often the case. We may know our opponent has a good hand; we may also know he has trouble folding good hands.

But, at the end of the day, if he has A♠-K♠ and the flop comes out 3-4-7, how much money is he really going to lose? In addition, if he has J-J and the flop comes out A-6-6, then great, we’ve hit trips. But he’s going to be afraid of that Ace and will probably not pay you off.

So, you see implied odds can be a tricky thing. Not only do you have to hit your hand, but you have to make sure you’ll get paid. It is imperative to keep track of your opponent’s stack as well as your own. As a general rule, I want to be able to make at least 20 times the original bet. If my opponent makes it 1,000 to go, I want to be able to make 20,000.

KEY POINT

Playing suited connectors because you know you’re getting the implied odds is all well and good, but you need to make sure when you hit your hand you get paid

HIGHER OR LOWER?

Suited connectors come in many shapes and sizes, but as you can probably guess, generally, the higher they are, the better – just keep in mind you might be in a position where you are dominated. If you call a raise with J-10 suited and you’re up against A-J, you’re in bad shape. Then again, J-10 plays quite well against pocket eights and pocket sevens.

I personally love 4-5 suited. Obviously I’m not looking for one pair here – it’s just a hand that has made me a lot of money over the years. On the other hand, 8-9 can be a trouble hand; it’s my least favourite connector to call a raise with.

The reasons for this are quite simple: the cards are too low for one pair to have any real value and if you make the bottom end of the straight (or the ass hand, as I like to call it), you can very easily be beaten by A-K – a hand many players will often raise with.

Imagine a 10-J-Q flop. This could mean a lot of trouble with 8-9 in a raised pot. If you’re still unsure just how and when you should be playing suited connectors, here – in no particular order – are my top six pointers:

1. OPPONENT PROFILE

An important aspect to consider is if your opponent is a very loose- aggressive player. If he is, there is no guarantee that he’s raising with a premium hand. In fact, he could be raising with 6-7 suited. If this is the case, it’ll be hard to win a big pot from him.

It’s difficult for you to have a hand and for him to have a very good second- best hand. If you think you can outplay your loose-aggressive friend, feel free to play against him in position. But against those players, I’d rather go in with the best hand.

2. TOURNAMENT STRUCTURE

As the tournament moves on, you’ll find it increasingly difficult to get in there with a suited connector. The blinds start moving up and rarely will you find yourself getting the proper implied odds. If the odds warrant it, go ahead and call that raise. Unfortunately, most tournament structures make playing suited connectors very prohibitive.

3. BIG STACK

If your stack is big enough, limp in or even open-raise with suited connectors in late position. But what makes a stack big enough? A good rule of thumb to follow is Harrington’s ‘M’ concept – which is the amount it costs to play one round. I like to have at least 10M when mixing it up with suited connectors.

4. SMALL STACK

If you’re late into the tournament, your stack is getting a little short and you feel as if you have to start making moves, suited connectors might be the way to go. I’m never going to call my chips off with 6-7 suited, but moving all-in with them isn’t such a bad idea. Obviously, we’d all like to move-in with Aces or Kings or even A-K, but unfortunately we don’t get dealt those premium hands every time we need one.

If your ‘M’ is below six – but you still have enough to dissuade an automatic call from the big blind – then by all means, move-in with a suited connector. The reason for this is two-fold: if you move in with a mediocre hand, you’re hoping not to get called; if you don’t get called, it doesn’t really matter what you have. But, if you do get called, you want to make sure you have live cards. Think about the hands that will often call an all- in push – maybe a big Ace or possibly a big pocket pair?

5. POSITION

In position, suited connectors are wonderful cards to steal the blinds and antes with. Think about it, if an Ace flops, you can represent (remember, you’re supposed to have an Ace). You were the pre-flop raiser. And, if you actually get lucky enough to hit your flop, they’ll never put you on it.

6. MULTI-WAY FLOP

Generally, I want to see the flop with as many players as possible if I have a suited connector. I want the implied odds. The more players there are, the more money there is. The more players, the more likely someone will have a good second best hand and I will get paid off.

Alternatively, I want to see the flop heads-up, in position. This gives me the best opportunity to outplay my opponent. I don’t necessarily need to hit the flop, my opponent just needs to miss. Keep in mind, that if my opponent raises with A-K, then he’ll only flop an Ace or a King 32.4% of the time. Well, that means he’ll miss 67.6% of the time, giving me an ideal opportunity to take away his pot.