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The Many Advantages Of Being Suited
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How to play suited connectors, Ax (where x is poker notation for any small card) suited, and suited face cards in hold?em is so complicated it is probably worthy of a slim book all on its own. In limit hold?em there are many advantages to being suited, but playing the hand well is no easy business. You are on a draw and premium hands are unlikely to bet you out of the pot pre-flop in limit games, which is good news for you. This is particularly true if there are several callers pre-flop, but be aware that the majority of them are on draws as well. Thus, suited hands like Kx or Qx are potentially disastrous because even if you hit your flush there is a chance that another opponent has a higher flush. Nevertheless, you want multi-way action because your pot odds justify the call even if you are pretty sure your hand needs to improve significantly to become the best.
That is the main advantage to playing suited cards, namely that a flush is a very strong hand in limit hold?em and so there is generally reason to believe that your hand might end up the best. This is no longer true if the board pairs, or even worse pairs twice, and only the greenest of rookies will persist in drawing to the flush when it is painfully apparent that a full house looms large. There is a big difference between suited connectors and connectors ? say between KQs and KQ. You should be tighter with non-suited connectors, preferably throwing them away the majority of the time unless you have position and sense weakness from the rest of the table, in which case you should vary your play and occasionally raise with them. The big difference is that when you have suited connectors you can obviously draw to the flush as well as the straight so that many more flops will help you. The downside is that it is also easier to get sucked into a hand where you might well finish second best, and only experience will help you to recognize this situation in time.
Another advantage of suited cards is that it is also far easier to play flush draws than it is to play straight draws after the flop, and you always have slightly better odds of making the flush than the straight if you are one card away from either. Here is one crucial piece of advice when you play suited cards in limit hold?em: Remember why you decided to play them before the flop in the first place. When you hold JT of spades and the flop comes 4,6,J rainbow you need to remind yourself that the initial value of your hand was primarily because it was suited. The fact that you now have top pair should not confuse you into thinking that this is a strong hand. You have a weak kicker, and many marginal hands (JQ, JK, JA, not to mention J4 and J6) are all beating you right now. In addition, in limit games, there is no reason to exclude 35, 37, and even more optimistic straight draws from still being in your pot. And we haven?t even mentioned the possibility of someone holding an over-pair to your Jacks or flopping a monster set. There is no point getting paranoid; but the point remains that your hand has now been sidetracked from its initial purpose, which was to hit a flush or failing that a straight.
Many players stay in with suited cards, particularly Ax, and then improve on the flop, but not in the direction they anticipated (towards the flush), and get burned as a result. If you hold Ax suited and hit an Ace on the flop know that there are many solid players who only play A with a good kicker who will gladly take your money when you push it in.
There are many ways to play suited cards and it enables good players to be very creative. For example if you hit a 4-flush on the flop many players like to check and call until they make their hand. This is predictable and these players frequently do not get paid off. Instead, try a semi-bluff check-raise, especially on the turn when the bet size doubles. You might win the pot right there, saving you the need to make the flush, and at the very least you seize control of the betting and confuse your opponents. Then if you do hit your hand you are highly likely to be paid off on the river, and if you don?t you still decide your own fate, as action is likely to be deferred to you at the end.
Related Poker Articles And News Items:
> Avoiding Basic Mistakes In No-Limit Hold'em
> No-Limit Hold'em Basic Strategies
> A Basic Guide To Playing Limit Hold'em
> How To Play Your Cards After The Flop
> Texas Hold'em Basics
> Texas Hold'em Introduction
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