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Why we only play suited connectors down to 76 in No Limit
Texas Holdem
Firstly, I would like to set the tone for the context of the article. There are three
categories of suited connectors – high, middle, and low. If you were to play
ALL suited connectors in No Limit Texas Holdem, your win rate with large
ones would be pretty good, win rate with middle ones will be marginal (to low)
and you would not likely show a win rate with the smaller ones (in general).
Why is this? The answer is mostly in the value.
Two Pair
Flopping two pair is strong – but two pair does not have much room to
improve and the turn or river will often counterfeit your lower pair. This is
especially true with low cards, sometimes true with medium cards, and rarely
true with high cards. Let’s look at an extreme example. You open in position
with 23s and get three callers. The flop comes K,2,3 rainbow. One of your
floaters played KJ and hit top pair. The other played 77. Another played 83. If
the flop either pairs up at some point (other than the remaining 2s and 3s)
your pair of 2s are worthless. Yes you are certainly ahead, but you are
vulnerable. Any K, J, 8, 7, or a running pair and you are gone. I’m not saying
that you are not ahead and that this is not a good flop for you – it is. It’s just
that the smallest two pair hands are exposed to pretty much anything. Check
out Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book of Poker in the two pair section. As you
can see the high/middle/low thing comes into play.
Flush
I probably would not stack off deep with a medium or low flush, but I would
give it a go with a good-sized river bet against most players. Just like the 2
pair hand above – the very low flush in No Limit Texas Holdem is still a
valuable hand – but it is vulnerable. When the river brings the 4th flush suit to
the board is one great example. Of course cooler flushes are another.
Apparently, the low flushes get coolered and counterfeited more than the
medium ones enough to make playing medium suited connectors profitable
in the long run but not so much the small ones. Once again, “high/middle/low”.
Straights
Firstly, though it is a rare situation in poker, any suited connector lower than
76 cannot provide the “high end – idiot end” standoff that leaves the holder of
the former with a stack-sized pot. 76 itself also offers lots of possibilities to
catch players who hold the A and has made the wheel straight and stack off
to the mortal nuts. 56 and 43 can still make the absolute nuts but I suppose
not often enough to be profitable. 43 and below also make many less
straights than the middle suited connectors. Wheel straights when you hold an
A will never be the absolute nuts.
Straights are also very easily counterfeited and betting action is often subject
to slowing down on later streets due to scare cards. You are less likely to be
counterfeited when you hold the business end of the straight as compared to
the ass end. How many times have you seen a 4-to-a-straight board (with a
missing card in the gap) starting from around 7 or 8 and someone stacks off
to the player who held the cooling high card. For example, the board is 7,8,9,
J. One player may have 56, another, T8, and the last, QT. I see this happen a
lot – with the T8 player losing a juicy river bet.
Summary
So zoom back in your mind and think of the suited connectors in thirds. The
large ones win all three of these hand types very often, the medium ones often
enough, and the smaller ones not often enough. Small suited connector-made
hands are simply too often coolered and counterfeited for even the above
average player to make profitable.
Texas Holdem
Firstly, I would like to set the tone for the context of the article. There are three
categories of suited connectors – high, middle, and low. If you were to play
ALL suited connectors in No Limit Texas Holdem, your win rate with large
ones would be pretty good, win rate with middle ones will be marginal (to low)
and you would not likely show a win rate with the smaller ones (in general).
Why is this? The answer is mostly in the value.
Two Pair
Flopping two pair is strong – but two pair does not have much room to
improve and the turn or river will often counterfeit your lower pair. This is
especially true with low cards, sometimes true with medium cards, and rarely
true with high cards. Let’s look at an extreme example. You open in position
with 23s and get three callers. The flop comes K,2,3 rainbow. One of your
floaters played KJ and hit top pair. The other played 77. Another played 83. If
the flop either pairs up at some point (other than the remaining 2s and 3s)
your pair of 2s are worthless. Yes you are certainly ahead, but you are
vulnerable. Any K, J, 8, 7, or a running pair and you are gone. I’m not saying
that you are not ahead and that this is not a good flop for you – it is. It’s just
that the smallest two pair hands are exposed to pretty much anything. Check
out Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book of Poker in the two pair section. As you
can see the high/middle/low thing comes into play.
Flush
I probably would not stack off deep with a medium or low flush, but I would
give it a go with a good-sized river bet against most players. Just like the 2
pair hand above – the very low flush in No Limit Texas Holdem is still a
valuable hand – but it is vulnerable. When the river brings the 4th flush suit to
the board is one great example. Of course cooler flushes are another.
Apparently, the low flushes get coolered and counterfeited more than the
medium ones enough to make playing medium suited connectors profitable
in the long run but not so much the small ones. Once again, “high/middle/low”.
Straights
Firstly, though it is a rare situation in poker, any suited connector lower than
76 cannot provide the “high end – idiot end” standoff that leaves the holder of
the former with a stack-sized pot. 76 itself also offers lots of possibilities to
catch players who hold the A and has made the wheel straight and stack off
to the mortal nuts. 56 and 43 can still make the absolute nuts but I suppose
not often enough to be profitable. 43 and below also make many less
straights than the middle suited connectors. Wheel straights when you hold an
A will never be the absolute nuts.
Straights are also very easily counterfeited and betting action is often subject
to slowing down on later streets due to scare cards. You are less likely to be
counterfeited when you hold the business end of the straight as compared to
the ass end. How many times have you seen a 4-to-a-straight board (with a
missing card in the gap) starting from around 7 or 8 and someone stacks off
to the player who held the cooling high card. For example, the board is 7,8,9,
J. One player may have 56, another, T8, and the last, QT. I see this happen a
lot – with the T8 player losing a juicy river bet.
Summary
So zoom back in your mind and think of the suited connectors in thirds. The
large ones win all three of these hand types very often, the medium ones often
enough, and the smaller ones not often enough. Small suited connector-made
hands are simply too often coolered and counterfeited for even the above
average player to make profitable.
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