Playing Small Suited Connectors

Chris Wheeler | September 26, 2011

It’s a beautiful sight. You’ve been dealt absolute garbage for the past half hour, and finally, you find yourself looking down at 9 of Spades10 of Spades – something to play with. Your eyes light up at the prospect of a miracle flop.

You’re in middle position, admiring your hole cards when suddenly there’s a raise from a player in early position. It’s folded around to you, and you’re faced with a decision. There isn’t much money in the pot yet, you’re not getting great odds, and you know the original raiser is ahead. On top of all this, there are still four or five players yet to act.

While small suited connectors look gorgeous in the hole and can be extremely profitable at times, these hands are often overvalued by newer and less experienced players.

The ultimate issue with suited connectors is that they don’t evolve into monster hands as often as we’d like to think.

Having said this, when these hands do hit, you’re likely to take your opponents by surprise more often than not, which can result in big payoffs.

Generally speaking, if you are going to enter a pot with small suited connectors, there are a few boxes you should tick off on your mental checklist:

Ideally, you should be in late position.
There should already be several players in the pot.
You need to be able to enter the pot cheaply.
The average stack of the opponents in the pot should be 70 big blinds or larger.

Why should I be in late position?

Let’s go back to the scenario at the start of this article. You’re holding 9 of Spades10 of Spades and excited about what the flop might bring. The player in early position has raised, and it’s been folded around to you in middle position with five players behind you.

First, the big stacks you need to create value might all fold. A raise from early position is a strong indicator of a strong hand. If they don’t fold, there’s always the chance one of them will put in a big raise, making it clear you’re too far behind to call.

Sometimes you might try to take your chances and sneak in for cheap from early position. But remember, you’ll still have to play every street from that position, making it extremely hard to chase any draws profitably.

By waiting until you are in late position to play these hands, you make it easier on yourself. This position gives you the chance to judge pot odds with everyone else acting before you.

Why does there need to be several players in the pot?

First of all, the more players in the pot, the better the odds for you to chase your draws. Secondly, we all know how it feels to hit a monster and have nobody willing to play with you. The more people in the pot, the greater the chance there’ll be action if you do hit.

Let’s say you’ve ended up in the pot with your 9 of Spades10 of Spades. You’ve flopped a straight draw, and you’re in late position. The pot is $200.

If a player in early position bets $100, and two opponents call, you’re getting $500 to $100 (5 to 1) on your draw.

Imagine the same scenario where you’re in the pot with just one other person. Now, when they make the $100 bet, you’re only getting $300 to $100 (3 to 1) on your draw.

How come I need to enter the pot cheaply?

It’s tempting to take a chance on suited connectors, but all those raises you’ve called with them will add up. Eventually, they will swallow the occasional big wins you make with similar hands. The money you’ll spend seeing flops will eat away at your earnings unless you ensure that every time you get involved with suited connectors, you’re doing so for cheap.

Sure, there’s nothing wrong with calling the occasional raise if you’re planning to steal the pot after the flop or if you’re playing heads up. But generally speaking, you should restrict calling a raise with suited connectors to when several well-stacked players have already made the call.

Shipping it

When it comes to tournaments, suited connectors can often provide a good opportunity to take that last stand.

If you’re bleeding chips, the blinds are about to jump, and you don’t have much time to find a strong hand, a hand like 9 of Spades10 of Spades or 4 of Diamonds5 of Diamonds is decent enough to push all-in with.

You’re hoping everyone folds so you can take the blinds and fight on, but even if this isn’t the case, your hand still stands a decent chance. If you’re going to go up against Ace of SpadesAce of Hearts or King of SpadesKing of Diamonds, you’ll want to do it with suited connectors as they have the best chance of causing an upset.

In addition, when you push with suited connectors and get called, your cards will usually be live.