In poker, are suited connectors good or bad?

Question

I'm reading some of the information from pokertips.org, and the information about suited connectors is contradictory. In the same article, it says that suited connectors are the 2nd strongest hand to get other than pocket pairs, but in the same article, it critisizes KQ suited, QJ suited and J10 suited as weak. So which is it? ("good" meaning you can bet into it pre-flop, "bad" meaning only for bluffing or check-folding.)

k, i read through the article more and it explained that the number of players increases the value of suited connectors.

Answer 1

I am going out on a limb here and say that suited connectors are bad unless you know how to play them. Suited connectors to me are 6-7s, 7-8s, 8-9s, etc. And it depends what game you are playing...Limit or No Limit...Tournament or Cash game.

I think in general, you want to see flops cheaply with these suited connectors and you will most likely fold your hand after missing the flop completely. Then you should be able to get rid of the hand easily. That's the good part. The bad thing about them is that if you get a piece of the flop which makes you chase cards, which is not usually a winning strategy in Hold em.

I know those books you read probably say that with more people in the hand, suited connectors are good. This is because you will usually get the proper pot odds when chasing your straight or flush.

when your article criticizes K-Qs, Q-Js, etc, they are probalby talking about in No Limit hold em, these hands are considered trap hands because they can easily be dominated, and you could possible lose your entire stack...This is not a good thing. That's why I'll say for the beginner or new player, suited connectors are not too good. Good luck.

PS I wanted to add one more thing...little suited connectors when up against a higher flush than yours might cause you to lose all your money (get stacked)..another downside of suited connectors.

Answer 2

This is not a question easily answered in the space provided.

Suited connectors can be a VERY powerful hand when up against the appropriate situation.

For example when up against AA or KK with one or two other callers you would be much safer to have something like 89 suited than AK or KQ. What you want are two live cards that give you the most possibilities. In this case you will have the possibility of a straight and a flush as well as two pair or trips.

The reference to JQ J10 and KQ is probably when you're in a dominated position. While these hands are good to have when both your cards are live and both cards are higher than your opponents cards. However when you're in a domincated situation KQ suited vs. AK or JQ suited ver KQ then you essentially have only the possibility of pairinf the lower card or making a flush. If neither card pairs you lose to the higher kicker. In these dominated situations you want to have two live cards.

The suited hands are made stronger by the type of game you're playing. In the loose (people play a lot of hands) passive (people call with not a lot of raising or betting) the suited connectors go WAY up in value; especially in late position.

To illustrate my points check out "race odds" and hand probabilities.

Good luck

Answer 3

High suited connectors are the second strongest hand besides Pocket Pairs. The thing is some people over value them. Hands like KQ and QJ do not have the high card value of AK, and their ability to make up extra straights doesn't make up for their reduced high card value. So it isn't really contradictory if you look at it in that sense.

There's more you can read about the subject on http://www.theultimatepokerguide.com 's tips from the Pros archive, there's a few articles in there about connectors.

Answer 4

Suited connectors are a great pre-flop hand. What you do with them after the flop is what will make, or break you. The reason they are the best hand heads up to a pocket pair are the probabilities of outcome. Having a KQ suited, or QJ suited, or J10 suited gives you a possible strait draw, flush draw, strait flush draw, or royal flush draw pre-flop. The problem with most novice players is they get these hands and then chase them too far.

Answer 5

Suited cards like 8-9, 9-10, and j-10 should be played in pots with lots of callers and should be played very carefully. You have to be getting odds to play the hand, and you have to be aware that even though your hand looks good you may be beat very easy. Playing 8-9 i flopped top pair two pair (9-8-A) we got all the money in and the other guy had a-9 for a better hand, also the flush draw can be tricky as well, making the small flush can be suicide if your not smart. I like to make straights with suited connectors myself and i don't like calling raises with them. If i don't have position or if I'm up front i don't play for the most part.

Answer 6

They can be both good and bad. Depending upon your position and the people playing at the table. If I have a full table with a lot of lose players, no pre-raise flop and most of the table limps in I'll play suited connectors hoping to hit a hand. If you are playing against super tight, aggresive poker players suited connectors is a weaker hand.

Answer 7

it all depends on how disciplined you are,mid-link suited connectors are the best hand you can have to crack your opponents big hand like A A or K K and so on, but alot of players play them to the death which is not good,meaning that when they make just 1 pair they loose alot of money,so fold when you don't hit the flop HARD meaning trips, 2 pair or even a big draw,then when you do hit it hard you will be in line to take a lot of money off your opponent who has Aces looking at a 6 7 2 rainbow board thinking his Aces are still good and doesn't think about someone having 6 7

Answer 8

Suited connectors are bad. Bad for inexperienced players who play them out of position and for too much money.

If you know what you are doing and play them right they can be excellent.

You don't want to invest too much with them because if you miss the flop they are likely to be useless. But if you can get in fairly cheap and in good position they can be very powerful. If you hit the flop well with them they are often well disguised which will often allow you to extract quite a few chips from someone.

So you just have to be careful and skilled about how and when you play them. Folding suited connectors routinely will certainly hurt your game. Getting committed to them and refusing to lay them down will certainly hurt your game too. So you just have to be sensible and play them smart.

I strongly suggest you invest in some good poker books where you will learn a lot more than you can reading small online articles.

Answer 9

4-or-more handed with no pre-flop raise: good.
generates monster drawing hands with great pot odds.

heads up against a raise preflop: not so good. You will find yourself dominated a lot (your KQ vs AK or AQ, etc) , behind to a good Ace a lot, sometimes in real trouble to a hi pocket pair, and sometimes lucky to either be in a coinflip vs. an underpair or up against a similar hand.

So they are situational hands. People that fall in love with them take them too far and get killed in pot and no limit games. The pokertips site is just giving both sides of the story.

Answer 10

Suited connectors are good of course!, it's like playing every hand it depend of a lot of things!!, the number of players at the table, your image at the table, your position, the size of your chips stack, the style of your opponents...........so many answers you need to ask yourself before playing each hand.
Many players refuse to accept that poker is a difficult and complex game and it requires a lot from them!
You must do the hard work needed to win!

If you need advice, strategy feel free to contact me on my site.

Take care