Suited connectors are an easy lay down in EP. Too often do I see people limp with them, only to get raised from a guy in later position and they throw away their hand along with their money. I personally like to limp with suited connectors after I`ve seen 1 or 2 limpers infront of me and I know that if I limp it's unlikely someone will raise behind me unless he wakes up with a monster. The real value of these hands comes when you see 4 to 5 way flops and hit your hand. J10 suited is my exception. I will still lay it down in EP, but if it's folded to me, I'll raise it in LP which helps diguise my hand and allows me to mix it up so that my opponents don't portray me as a total rock and still give me considerable action. I will also call a raise with J10 suited if I`m in position because I know that any straight I make will be the nuts and any flush I make will only have 3 flushes that can beat it. The real key to these hands though is not when you make a monster but when the flop comes J high or 10 high. This is where I see alot of players lose alot of money with these hands. If you're good at reading your opponents and knowing where you're at in a hand then suited connectors can be among your most profitable hands but if you're still having trouble with those concepts then you should eliminate suited connectors from your range of playable hands and stick to premium hands.
Here is pretty much the formula I stick to
UTG UTG+1 UTG+2 UTG+3 UTG+4 -- fold all suited connectors
UTG+5 -- in unopened pot raise J10 suited and fold all others -- if there are 1 or more limpers infront of me call with J10 109 98 and fold all others
CO -- in unopened pot raise with J10 and 109 fold all others -- 1 or more limpers call with j10 109 98 87
Button -- unopened raise with J10 109 98 -- 1 or more limpers call with J10 109 98 87 67
23 34 45 suited just dont make enough ``nut`` straights so even if you make your hand you still might be in trouble so I don't like to play them.
Once again the key to these hands is knowing how to get away from them when you miss the flop.  |