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Playing suited connectors.

These are some of the most interesting hands to play in no limit hold'em, and if played correctly, can be among the most profitable.

One of the great things about suited connectors is that they can flop monster hands like flushes and straights; which are also hands that tend to be very well disguised. It is worth noting that this is particularly true for straights, where you will nearly always win a big pot if your opponent has any form of hand, due to how easy it is to miss a possible straight when looking at the board.

These hands can get inexperienced players into all types of trouble though, as they often lead to hands that are very hard to play, such as bottom two pair, gutshot straight draws, or a weak top pair. As a result of this, it is important to tread carefully as you start to play these hands - focus on being in position, seeing the flop cheaply and playing them against weaker players with good implied odds.

The first thing you will notice as you start including suited connectors in your repertoire of hands is that both you and your opponent need to be relatively deep stacked to make the play viable. As suited connectors (much like low pocket pairs in this respect) miss the board so often, it is only economically viable to invest a small proportion of your stack pre flop, with the hope of winning a large pot the few times that you do hit. There is no point putting a quarter of your stack in pre flop with a suited connector - you will miss the board much more than one time in four and steadily lose money. This is also true if your opponent has a short stack - there simply aren't the chips there to win when you do hit from short stacks.

When playing in a deep stacked game these hands become much easier to play. One of the truly great things about suited connectors in deep stacked games is that you nearly always know where you are if the big money starts going in. Unlike big pocket pairs, that can often be very hard to play deep stacked (do you really want to lose two hundred big blinds with just a pair?), suited connectors tend to develop into the sort of hands that you are happy to gamble the big money on - straights, flushes and full houses.

There is no better feeling in poker than hitting a well disguised straight with a small connector and cracking someone's aces for a monster pot. Get in position, take a cheap flop, then try and turn a toothpick into a lumber yard with some of the most fun hands in poker...

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4 August 2008 / About Marcus Bateman