Poker Articles

By Jennifear | Published Feb 28 2007, 11:28 PM
When a player is asked what their favorite starting hand is, most say they prefer pocket aces.  However, suited connectors are a close second.  As I sift through player's profiles of all skill levels, I am not surprised by the fact that many people of all skill levels list their favorite hand as a suited connector or some other hand that wins by sneaking up on others, such as 5 5 (PRESTO!).  In general, people like to win with flair and panache, establishing total dominance and superiority through deception, trickery, and the element of surprise.  It is for this reason that these hands are often misplayed. 

Playing speculative starting hands when the conditions are right can be dangerous to your opponents, and here are guidelines to playing these potential gems to earn that surprise double-up, while avoiding the problems that are common when playing what is otherwise, trash.


Preflop conditions for speculating:

- Pick hands that are flexible and are likely to make the best hand.  Avoid those that are unlikely to hit or will make a non-nut hand if they do.

The types of hands you are looking for are suited connectors from 5 4 on up to Q J and suited aces like A 3.  These hands have the potential to make a huge hand two ways. 

A common mistake is speculating with hands such as A 4 and 7 8, which are not flexible enough even in situations where the stacks are extremely deep to make up for the chips you waste to see the flop.

Another common mistake is speculating with hands like Q 2, which can make you a great second-best hand in many ways.

- The blinds must be small in relation to the stack sizes.

You are going to hit the flop for your perfect hand only once in about seventy times for suited aces and once in about sixty times for suited connectors.  By the turn (if you are lucky enough to see it without being bet out of the hand), the odds are as much as 12-1 against hitting your hand.  Therefore, your implied odds must be high, so that the risk is worth the reward.  The blinds should be about 1/50 or less of the total stacks (no more than 15-30 in a SNG). 

The common mistake made here is to try to play these hands at a 30-60 blind level, where you are just throwing chips away, laying 30-1 odds on a 50-1 shot.

- Play the hand multi-way.

In order for you to double up, two very difficult conditions must be met.  First, you must hit your hand, which is a longshot.  Second, you have to have someone else who has a good enough hand to play along with you after you hit!  By playing these hands with three or more limpers, you exponentially increase the odds that if you do hit, someone comes along for the ride.  It is frustrating and not very lucrative to flop a nut flush, only to see the others drop out of the pot with no resistance.

The common mistake made is to justify playing a suited connector because the blinds are small, like 10-20, and not take into account the fact that you need someone to oblige you if you push all in with the nuts.

- Have position.

Even if there are limpers in front of you, be sure you are on the button or the cutoff to limp along.  This way you are less likely to be raised out of the pot behind you, costing you your limpet.  It also ensures that you can gauge your opponents' hand strength, should you hit.

A common mistake is to raise with suited connectors in early position in low-limit games.  While in high-limit games, this play can occasionally be used for deception and to change things up, in a low-limit game, your opponents are less likely to be paying attention to your image.  They're also less likely to react appropriately if they do understand it, so your image isn't as important.  Also, the spectrum of calling hands is much larger, and you are likely to end up playing a large pot out of position against a loose player. 

Another common mistake is to limp these hands from early position.  This is ineffective.  You are likely to be raised out of the pot, you don't know how many players will play the flop if your limp works, and you cannot gauge your opponents' hand strength until the turn, limiting your ability to extract maximum value from your monster, should you hit.

- Don't speculate if there is a shortstack yet to act.

Shortstacks tend to go all in preflop more than other players, so in this case, your limpet is in danger.

- It's okay to play against an early position raise and a few callers, as long as the stacks are very, very deep.

The reason this is okay is because it's more likely that the raiser has a huge pocket pair, meaning that if you hit, you will be paid off more often.

Postflop considerations for speculating:

- No Bluffing or Semi-bluffing.

Since you are playing six-handed, at minimum, your bluff won't be successful often enough against five or more opponents to be profitable.  Also, you open up the chance of being check-raised, betting yourself off your draw against the one person who your free card would hurt the most if you hit on the turn.

- Prepare to fold your non-monster hands.

9 8 is to be read as "Nine High, Crappy Kicker."  If you hit top pair, proceed as if you hit second pair, which is not good enough to continue six-handed, in most cases.  In addition, if you cannot fold J 10 when two jacks hit the flop, six-handed, then speculating is not for you.  In addition, keep in mind that bottom two pair are only a very small favorite over top pair, and they may be too vulnerable in a multi-way pot.

- When you hit, bet.

Since the stacks are deep, it's best to lead out, as opposed to slowplaying.  Building the pot is key to doubling, and if you slowplay, by the time all the chips are in the pot, your opponent will have it all figured out.  Your hand is deceptive and might be read as a bluff, should you bet.

- Use implied odds to calculate drawing odds.

You can make some pretty big calls (pot-sized even!) if there is a bettor and a caller.  Your implied odds on a draw are good enough.

- If you hit a strong and vulnerable hand, make them pay to redraw.

Say your Q J turns a flush.  You are one diamond away from a second-bester.  Bet hard enough to end the hand right here against multiple opponents.

A common mistake is to continue to deceive, by slowplaying, giving the A the right odds to draw.



In general, in order to speculate, you must have good discipline so that you don't go broke with a good hand.  You must also possess good reading skills, so that you can extract the most money from your second-best opponent.  Though I specialize in low-limit play, this article is a good guide for both high and low-limit SNG or MTT action.

Jennifear is a proud Contributing Writer for Pocketfives.com and a Presto Award Winner.  She teaches private poker lessons, and you can find the details of this at Jennifear.com.  A discount on these lessons is available by supporting pocketfives.com by joining a poker site through one of their links.