[elon05]

I want to share my thoughts on suited connecters...a NL players best friend if played right...first off, the worst mistake when dealing with suited connecters...THEY ARE NOT PAIRS!!!!. They will never beat a pair of anything. Most people who enjoy suited connecters make this mistake. When you play suited connecters you are playing the flop...they are the cards that can make made hands the easiest, therefore you want to see the flop relatively cheap and when it hits you get to reap the rewards. I hope you all find my strategy usefull.

Elon's theory on playing suited connecters

Pre-flop
Low suited connecters: (2-3 through 4-5)
Early position: fold...raising or calling is very susceptible to a re-raise, and even if you limp in and raised you still are out of position after the flop

middle position: depends...if it's a real tight game or a freindly game (where most players see a pot) go ahead and call the blinds...you may flop a dreamer.

Late position: Limp in or maybe a raise if you think you can take the pot

In the blinds...limping is you only option here


Middle suited connectors: (5-6 through 9-10)
Early position: All depends on the table...if you think you'll see a cheap flop then call if not lay em down

Middle position: this is where it's fun...you may want to raise the blinds or call a small raise depending on the raiser.

Late position: Raise the blinds but be prepared to lay down to a reraise occasionally

In the blinds...simply call if it's not too much


High Suited Connecters: ( 10-J through K-Q)
Early position or in the blinds: Call the blinds and a small raise (depending on the table and/or the bettor)

Middle and Late position: Make a substantial raise if not done so before but if re-raised you may want to lay them down.


Slickus Maximus: (A-K)

The Big Daddy: The most wrongly played hand in poker...call and reraise in early and middle positions...Raise and reraise in late position and raise on the blinds (but not reraise) If your raise or reraise is again reraised...LAY THEM DOWN!!!
In this case you are most likely against a high pair which hurts your odds...the straight is less likely and unless the flush miraculously hits you are left with a whole 6 outs ( less if your opponent has KK or even worse AA) A-K is NOT a very good all-in hand pre-flop

Suited Connecters Post Flop:
well one of five things happened...

The Flop hit you with the whole trash dumpster...
In this case you should be check folding unless you raised pre-flop...in this case open with a sizable bet and maybe take the pot home

You caught a piece of the flop
Maybe a pair or two. Here it gets tricky...you gotta play your opponents...if they're tight go ahead and bet...could win it right there...I would be hesitant in calling a bet though. If you had high suited connecers or AK the bet a nice sized bet. If you get reraised then you may wanna let it go...trips are nasty at times like this...also be wary of str8s and flushes.

a low end str8 would be included here too... say you had (4-5) and 6-7-8 hit on the flop...not a good deal for you there...play it safe

You caught the flop good.
You hit the nut str8 or a low flush...BET IT!!!...do NOT slow play it...you may slow play it right into a boat or a higher str8...I'm against check-raising in general...it's a very negative way of playing that hurts your stack more than helps it...

You caught the made hand...
well that can truly happen one way...a str8 flush with one of the two highest cards of it...EVERY OTHER HAND CAN BE DRAWN OUT ON!!! The made hands are hands that will be alomst impossible to draw out on...a high flush an Ace High str8...again with the exception of the nut flush bet strong...the reason you dont weant to play a dflush too strong is that you dont wanna scare people out...always be way when you're playing a high flush when the fourth flush card hits and you dont have the Ace...most people will play ace rag a lot.
Why not check raise an Ace high str8...because somebody hit something...you're gonna get paid ...if somehow nobody hit you weren't gonna win anything else anyhow

You caught the drawing hand:
Always fun...as before you should lead out with a bet if you raised pre-flop...other than that play your odds...(i'll get into odds some other time...though I'm sure there is a better person that can explain them)

Well that basically concludes my theory...please note that this is a very aggressive strategy that should be used in conjunction with fundamentally aggressive play otherwise you should try something else.

Man I hope posting this doesn't hurt me when playing in the BBP league.