How do you play middle suited connectors Preflop?

[Ron_T]

I've only been playing the 5 +.5 on bodog and have been seeing a lot of people playing these hands in situations I wouldn't. I know the 5+.5's get a lot of crazy play but how would you play these situations. Spacifically I'm curious about the bubble, preflop with 56 suited - 9T suited.

Short stack
- From UTG
- From MP
- From the button
- From the blinds

Middle stack
- From UTG
- From MP
- From the button
- From the blinds

Big stack
- From UTG
- From MP
- From the button
- From the blinds

Hopfully this isnt too vague. I know reads may influence your deciesion on how to play these. For now just assume you have no spacific reads.

[LeFou]

Let's see ... you said the bodog 5+.5 on the bubble ... hope my answer's not too vague.

Short stack
- From UTG raise 'bout 4BB
- From MP raise 'bout 4BB
- From the button raise 'bout 4BB
- From the blinds raise 'bout 4BB

Middle stack
- From UTG raise 'bout 4BB
- From MP raise 'bout 4BB
- From the button raise 'bout 4BB
- From the blinds raise 'bout 4BB

Big stack
- From UTG raise 'bout 4BB
- From MP raise 'bout 4BB
- From the button raise 'bout 4BB
- From the blinds raise 'bout 4BB

I think that looks about right.

If my stack is very short (<9BB) I'd push or fold, depending on how the BB has been playing.

[drmcboy]

with higher blinds you shouldn't be limping, unless you are a big stack and the blinds are too, or other big stacks have already limped.

Think about pot odds before making raises with them late. If you're in the CO, know what you're going to do if you get raise by button, SB, BB.

[MAX]

They are good for stealing because you often have live cards w/extra str8 or flush outs when you are called. I don't think raising for value is good because you don't have the best hand. So any raising should be done with the intention of taking down the blinds and is often an ai. UTG is a good time to lay these down unless you are in a position to bully. Because I think of these as steals, whether or not I push them depends on stack sizes and calling requirements of the players left to act. As the blinds go up, the value of these hands decreases greatly. You will pay a significant portion of your stack to see the flop and then even more to chase(how often do you actually flop the best hand w/89s??).

[konahead]

yeah - these suited connectors are really for late position after limpers so you have the right expressed and implied odds. Only limp in early positions when blinds are small and table is not aggressive, just to mix it up. They are good stealing hands though, so you can be aggressive with them in late position. Of course you can (and should) vary your play around this but these are good guidelines.

I believe LeFou just means on the bubble you should be raising if you're playing these... (not to put words in your mouth, sir)

[LeFou]

As blinds go up all steals increase in value. There's more to steal.

Limping late position after limpers? Give it some thought. This is the bubble -- your implied odds are rarely great b/c people don't like putting all their chips in on the bubble. How about folding these? Let those limpers go after each other; no skin off your teeth.

What about pushing these after limpers? They're limping! They don't like their hands that much.

Out of position? That's not that bad... It looks more like you have a real hand if you bump it up UTG. Also it's an easy fold to a reraise. If reraised by a short stack and/or you've got a pretty short stack you've usually got 2 live cards and will have to use yr judgment as to whether opp has an overpair to you.

In short, what's worth playing is worth raising, especially on the bubble.

[pgil]

I dont know that suited connectors can be immediately assumed to be live cards anymore. with all the televised poker, and all the pros playing suited connectors, there's tonnes of people overplaying these hands. just because someone is raising doesnt mean he/she has high cards. just because someone called a raise doesnt mean they have high cards, they may just think they have 'live' cards. I think there are way more huge calls pf with suited connectors than any of us thinks, because the idiot who calls off half his stack with a 67s pf will usually be smart enough to fold on the TJA rainbow flop to a push. not always, but usually.

[zenbitz]

On the bubble, I will probably raise if folded to as long as my M is around 10. I am going to be a little more careful if my stack is shorter, especially with garbage like 65s, because they play badly heads up. If I'm feeling frisky, I might call a smallish raise from the blinds if I feel the raiser is weak/tight. Also helps to outstack them so that they are playing for survival and you are not.

If you are stealing with them, and get called, you must be extremely careful about your continuation bets. With shortish stacks (M~10), you have almost no margin for error, and people will call you down with crap.