help with suited connectors

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frankrizzojr

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i was looking for some help with suited connectors. i realize they are hands that rely heavily on implied odds. if i could get some answers on how others play them that would be great . most specifically i would like to know 1. how deep should my stack be to consider playing them . 100 bb, 150 bb ect.....?2. if calling a raise with them how much of my stack should i be willing call a raise with ? does the 5/10 rule work only with small pocket pairs or can it be applied to suited conns as well ?3. should i only play them in position or do others see value in calling raises with them out of position ? 4 or is it just best to lmp behind a bunch of limpers with them ?
i am not very good at playing them right now , but id like to get better because i realize when you hit you can take someones stack . also if you could include how you play them when you flop a strong draw with them ..
 
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matiusaa

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I think the objective of playing suited conectors is to get a draw in the flop, or doubles or trips at least. So it is easy to know when you have to fold, and how much to bet or call. I believe they should be played against reasonable players, with donks it is better to play strong hands. You should have a comfortable stack to play them, I say 100bb or more, and you should put before the flop, an amount that doesn't bother you to fold in the flop, an amount of money that doesn't affect almost anything your stack. When you flop a straight and flush draw, the odds say that 2 out of 3 times you will get either the straight or the flush, so if the board hasn't paired, they are really strong draws, and plus more than 50% of the time you will get one of the draws, so in this situation, its justified to end all in if it happens. Then, if you have either a straight or a flush draw, you will get them 1 out of 3 times approx, so the amount you have to put in total in the next 2 streets should not be more than 1/3 of the pot at the flop.
 
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willbec1

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It would help to know what stakes, # of players, live/online etc... but here is a basic overview of where the strength of suited connectors lie.

First lets compare the difference, that may at first glance seem negligible, between T9s (true connector) and T7s (Two gapper).

To the naked eye and inexperienced player, those hands are close to the same rank. (Obviously thinking that T9s is better but hardly)

Before we dig deeper into the difference in such hands, lets discuss where the value of these type of hands comes from.

Like pocket pairs, these types of hands are very suitable for speculating, meaning you ideally want to see the flop as cheaply as possible. But whereas with 55 your trying to hit a set against (hopefully) an overpair to get them to stack off, the suited connectors let you hit a piece of the flop a high percentage of the time and be able to continue past the flop a lot. The ability to be able to continue on turns and rivers gets exponentially more beneficial as the stacks get deeper. Think about getting to the river with AA 300bb deep, are you ever comfortable on a non A flop after someones called twice?

But note that to be successfully speculate, you have to know which flops to continue on and which ones to just bail. Which brings us back to our discussion on the difference between certain "connectors."

Obv the higher the suited connector the better (QJ>JT>9T etc...) but also the less gappy it is the better as well (T9>T8>T7), this goes beyond the fact that 9TvT7 is a better hand one vs one, but also the amount of flops and turns we can continue on.

T9 can flop a straight 4 different ways. (678, 78J, 8JQ, & JQK)
It can flop an Open-Ended Straight Draw 3 different ways. (78x, 8Jx, & JQx)
It can flop a gut-shot straight draw 5 different ways. (68x, 67x, 7Jx, JKx, Q8x)

T7can flop a straight only 2 different ways (689, 89J)
It can flop an open ended straight draw only 1 way (89x)
It can flop a gutshot straight draw only 4 ways (68x,8Jx,J9x,69x)

So as you can see, not only is there the added benefit of your kicker card being higher, the real value with these hands is being able to get to turns and rivers profitably, and the more connected it is, the more flops and turns you can peel profitably.

This will also do wonders for the times you are calling down with what may be a pretty visible range(i.e. top or mid pair hands). It will leave him questioning on rivers whether you've been calling down with a pair or now has to wonder if you have 67s instead, so it makes his life a hell of a lot more difficult.

I could go on and on, but i'm running out of attention, lol damn ADD. Hope any of this helped!
 
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GWU73

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To begin with, just reserve them for late position and cheap multiway pots. Until you get more experienced: never call a raise with them. If you flop a weak draw or worse, just check / fold. If you flop something strong or a very strong draw, you can continue. Look for spots where you have a very good chance to win or very small cost before you commit your chips on a draw, especially if it will not make the nuts. I like to play strong draws aggressively vs people who can fold and passivly against callers - only betting into them when I hit. Obviously if I hit 2 pair or better, and I think it is good I like to JAM the pot.
 
Vfranks

Vfranks

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Play them if the effective stacks are 150bb deep or larger for the implied odds part. Or when a bunch of other players limp in. Don't always play them though, you have to decide based on stacks, opponents, image, ect.
 
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bnasp2

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At microstakes there is a lot of players:
- they play only strong hand, but only min-raise or limp with them
- they are willing to stack with TPTK

Against such players, its great to to play connectors. Especially T9 or JT. You see flop for cheap, and you have great implied odds.
 
Aces2w1n

Aces2w1n

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Deeper you and your opponent stacks the wider your range can be.
 
babydrago9

babydrago9

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When you play with suited connectors and get to showdown, people realize you can play with any 2 cards at any time so will give you value when you have monsters, as they'll think its likely you have draws/weak pairs/air. Suited connectors overall are good nevertheless as they are the best types of hands to crack monsters, hence why you always see pros like negreanu/ivey/dwan using them
 
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baudib1

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suited connectors are not the best types of hands to crack monsters
 
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rumsey182

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there is a lot of problems with this logic because it is going so heavy into axiom based thinking but in a nut shell you want to play as wide a range as you profitably at any point and adjust to your villain as you go so imo the question should ever be how do i handle X type hands or Y type hands but rather how do i handle my range here, what is my range, what do i think villains range is, and how can i be exploited and or exploit villain in this situation?

long winded i know but your question is so vague that it's useless to give a "guide to suited connectors" lol that's like asking about biology, not a specfic part of it but just broad sense thats really hard to answer lol
 
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frankrizzojr

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thank you for all of your opinions. very helpful
 
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jcla6985

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assuming you mean suited connectors from like jq and below heres how I play them

only when suited and only when you have enough limpers ahead of you to make the pot odds worth the unlikleyhood of a straight or flush. don't try to raise and steal or even raise for value. limp with a bunch of limpers or fold
 
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heAdstroMan

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dont ever limo behind, always raise.

obv stack size matter when we are lower than 100bbs, but 100bbs+ calling gets better, but I would be more worried about villains raise percentage by position rather than stack sizes.
 
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ezevan1022

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If your ever lower then 100bbs I would suggest folding. Also who your playing is a big importance, you can call opponents lighter if they have a greater chance of stacking off light then other opponents.
 
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DaMan1313

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I definetly like them in position and i like to have at least a 10 to 1 implied odds
 
Mechanic44

Mechanic44

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if you play a lot of them you arent considared Tight player, and its fork in your favor,if you have a decant hand from time to time.
 
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kmichaels

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Whenever I can i play them all of the time. There´s a lot of win combinations with them and they are really difficult to read from you opponent´s view. However, they can cost you tons of chips if you play them badly so play them with a lot of caution, just limp with them, don´t bluff with them except if there´s some draws to came.
 
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