When to play small pairs and suited connectors

[Christian Basa]

I’m having trouble on deciding when to play low pairs and suited connectors. What position should I play, when should I fold them, etc.

[David Wibel]

So there are a few categories we need to establish. I consider 22-55 to be small pairs, while 66-99 are medium pairs. If I don’t think I can get a limp through I will fold most small pairs from UTG and UTG+1. They are hard to play out of position unless exactly a set comes off and the risk of getting reraised is too high. From middle position and on I will usually raise them once and hope to get called by one of the blinds or a late position player plus one of the blinds. I tend to play fit or fold but with an extremely dry board like K94 rainbow and I have 55 I will bet once to try and get folds. I will almost never reraise as a bluff in late position and am content to set mine with them.

Suited connectors get tough, I’m guessing you mean low to medium suited connectors like 56s or 89s rather than suited broadway hands. These hands can be played in a couple of ways. They work well at a limp happy table if you want to try to hit straight or flush draws or 2 pair but you need to be careful if you just hit 1 pair hands since you are likely out kicked. They can also work well as bluff hands from late position or blinds if a middle position player raised and they are not an OMC (old man coffee). They are also good call hands from late position since you are unlikely to get raised off your hand and you can bluff if it checks to you.

[John S]

I think David hit the main points pretty well. I’ll add a few of my own opinions:

– I don’t mind limping pairs and suited connectors at lower levels. There’s just a lot of limping in these games and you really don’t need to worry about balancing ranges.

– Any pair is fine to play for a cheapish price. 56 is probably the lowest suited connector you should play from any position.

– Sets should be pretty easy to play from any position. If you completely miss, just let it go. You can peel a street or two if you have a straight draw. No reason to be a hero, it just doesn’t pay in the long run at lower stakes

– Suited connectors should be played similar, you need to hit the flop pretty well to continue putting money in the pot. If you make 1 pair with 2 over cards on the board, probably okay to let it go until you’re more familiar with how your opponents play. The goal of these hands is to really hit the flop – two pair, pair plus straight draw, flush draw, straight + flush draw, etc. You really want to have some good equity to continue.

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