Getting The Most Out Of Suited Connectors

When I watch YouTube videos of the pros playing it never ceases to amaze me how many players will open or raise with nothing more than a couple of suited connectors.  Statistics have shown that suited cards only increase your chances at showdown by about 3%, so I could never understand the fascination.

But just because suited connectors aren’t as powerful as some players believe, it doesn’t make them unplayable.  While suited connectors only provide a slight edge over non-suited cards at showdown, there are some advantages they provide earlier in the hand.  First and foremost is the power of the semi-bluff.  Suited cards open up the opportunity for you to semi-bluff at hands you wouldn’t normally bet if they were non- suited.  For example, if you are holding the J and 10 of spades and the board falls Qh, 8s and 6s, you have a great opportunity here to semi-bluff for a flush draw.  A semi-bluff will always give you the opportunity to win a pot with nothing more than a draw. And anytime you can pick up chips with a weak or drawing hand is a good thing!  Picking up small pots on a continuous basis will eventually turn your short stack into a large stack, especially in tournament settings when you are in it for the long haul.

Another advantage suited connectors can provide is when they give you the opportunity to win a big pot, when you do make your draw.  When you’re holding a straight and/or flush draw,  you can call a decent sized bet and complete your hand.  With only a straight draw, more often than not you are usually forced to fold.

The following guidelines will help you play your suited hands based on stack size considerations:

If you have 15 big blinds or less, which is considered short-stacked, especially in tournament play, the more aggressive move is to move all-in with two suited cards provided that you are the first player to act, you are in late position and you still have fold equity.  Some players may disagree that this play is too aggressive, but the new poker mathematics show that this is the right move.

When you are in the 50 big blind range you shouldn’t be looking to play a big hand if you flopped a flush draw.  Your primary goal in this case should be to manuever the betting so you can give yourself a couple of ways to win, either by hitting your hand or by getting your opponent to fold.  In other words, you should try to be the one who gets the last bet in.  A good aggressive player will be the one who is doing the betting or the raising, because you really don’t want to find yourself in a spot where you’re calling off your stack with nothing but a draw.

If you find yourself playing with a stack size of 100 big blinds or more, you should be very careful about playing a huge pot with a medium flush draw or even a “made” medium size flush.  Be cautious if your opponent is willing to go ‘all-in’ because if you are not holding the big hand, the odds are that he probably is. Play smaller flushes as calling hands rather than betting them more aggressively like you would if you are sitting in front of a smaller stack.  This gives you a couple of advantages.  One, you keep the pot size small in case you aren’t holding the nuts and two, you end up trapping your opponent who may hit top pair on the river because he doesn’t think you have the flush.

All In with a K4?

Usually late night television holds no appeal for me, especially since we’ve relocated to Europe.  I couldn’t sleep, and didn’t feel like logging on to my favorite online poker room, so when I happened upon a re-play of  last November’s Partouche Poker Tournament telecast, I decided to sit down, have a brandy and watch again how this one turns out.

The Partouche Poker Tour is the biggest orgainized poker event in France.  With over 2,460 ‘Satellite’ tournaments, it was fun watching the winners of the second level ‘Super Satellites’ take a seat in the Partouche Main Event.  With a €1.3 million prize, the tour ended with the final heads up match at the beautiful Palm Beach Casino in Cannes.

The champ, Vanessa Selbst was seated at the final table with six other players when I settled in to watch. I quickly became fascinated with Ibrahim Raouf, who went in under the gun with 4S-6C.  Totally bluffing.  I could not get over his ability to just crack his opponent’s tough veneer with a long hard stare, making them wonder what he had, if they could beat him.  He was so good at it!  And sure enough, after calling, then betting, then raising and even re-raising, he got his opponents, one by one to drop and fold leaving him to rake in the huge €250,000 pot with nothing in his hand.  Finally after the cards were re-shuffled and the next hand was about to be dealt he looks over at the last one to fold and says, “Yeah, I didn’t have a thing.”

As the remaining players one by one put all-in and lost, it was down to Selbst and Raphael Kroll.  Heads up play was mediocre at best with Kroll taking down the first few pots.  On the fifth hand Selbst picked up pocket queens and Kroll had a K4.  She opened and bet high and then Kroll went all-in.  All in?  With a K4?  I just couldn’t believe it.  A K4?  Pre-flop.  His face showed it all as the cards were flipped over.  He knew it.  He had three outs, the remaining kings.  The odds were against him this time.

I went to bed wondering why the hell he went all-in with a K4 at the final table with €1.3 million at stake.  I’ll bet you that even he doesn’t know.