Unsuited Connectors
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OffsuitSuited connectors are when you have two cards that are right next to each other in rank and both of them are the same suit. An example of suited connectors would be 8♥ 9♥ or J♠ 10♠. These hands are. In the shouty Valhalla of pointlessly destructive literary feuds, a place of honor must go to the verbal duel between the poets Heinrich Heine and August von Platen, which amused and disgusted the.
- Cards that are not of the same suit.
At the start of the hand, Hold’em players are dealt a two card starting hand. These are called you’re “hole cards.” Players may use these two cards in any combination with the community cards from the board to make the best possible poker hand. The player who makes the best five card hand will win the pot.
Hold’em is a community card game. This means cards are dealt face up in the center of the table, for all players to share. In fact, the only differentiation between each player’s hand is their starting hand. Because there isn’t much differentiation between hands in a Hold’em game, it makes the content of the starting hand very important. Players only have two cards to define their hands with, so they will need every edge available to them.
At the beginning of the hand, players must decide if their starting hand is playable. This decision is mainly based upon the content of the hand, but other factors, such as position or the amount of the bet, often come into play. One thing that can make a starting hand more valuable is if it is suited. This means that both hole cards are of identical suits, regardless of which suit that may be. The specific suit is not important, because the ranking of the suits is not considered at showdown. Having suited hole cards greatly increases the probability that you will make a flush during the coming hand, and a flush is a very strong hand. But you do not have to actually complete a flush to add value to your hand. Most Hold’em hands are won by betting and never even make it to showdown. If you flop a flush draw you have greatly increase the value of your holding, because if you bet your hand correctly, you will win many of those pots without ever completing a flush.
If a player’s hole cards do not contain the same suit, but rather are composed of two different suits, the hand is referred to as “unsuited,” or “offsuit.” Since there are four different suits in the deck, a majority of hands dealt will be off suit. Less than 23% of hands dealt will end up being suited.
While there is a benefit to holding a suited hand over an offsuit hand, the benefit is slight. It increases your chances of winning the hand by a few percentage points at best. One thing that makes your suited hole cards more valuable is if they in sequence in terms of rank, for instance Q♥ K♥. These cards are known as “suited connectors.” Suited connecting hands are obviously more valuable than unconnected offsuit hands. Still, being suited and connected is not a good enough justification, by itself, to play a hand. For the most part, in order to make suited connectors valuable, you must have something else going for you as well. The most common thing that will make suited connectors playable is if they are also high ranking. Another thing that may add enough value for you to play them is if you hold them in position.
Hands that are not of a high enough quality to be played are referred to as “trash,” or “slop.” Many offsuit hands fall into this category. But whether or not the hand is suited is not the primary determinant of value. The ranking of the two hole cards is the most important factor. In fact, most raising hands, including all of the premium pairs, are offsuit. Also, most of the suited hands you will be dealt are trash. Do not put too much stock into a hand being suited, or even into it being suited and connected, if other aspects of value, like a high ranking or quality position, are not present. You should be careful not to overestimate the value of being suited, especially before the flop, or after, if you have not flopped a flush draw.Usage: Ace King Off Suit, Off Suited Cards
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In a Holdem game, consecutively ranked hole cards are called “connectors.” If the connecting hole cards are of the same suit, they are called “suited connectors,” and if they are of two different suits, they are called “unsuited connectors.” For instance, if you were dealt 7♥ 8♥ you would have suited connectors, and if you were dealt 9♣ T♠, you would have unsuited connectors. The reason that hole cards are described this way is that there a significant advantage to being suited over being unsuited, and there is also a significant advantage to having connectors, instead of holding gap hands or unrelated cards. The advantage to being suited, of course, is that it greatly increases you chances of making a flush, which is a very strong hand in Hold’em. The advantage to having connectors is that it greatly increases probability that you will make a straight.
If you are playing low or middle cards, having them suited or connecting (or both) is of tantamount importance. If you are playing high cards, having them suited or connecting is a plus, but having the top kicker (often an Ace or King) is often just as important, if not more so. This means that a hand like 7♣ 8♣ is more valuable than 7♣ 9♣, but depending on the action, a hand like A♣ Q♣ may be much more valuable than K♣ Q♣. The reason for this is that high cards make high pairs, and one high pair is often enough to win the pot. This makes having the top kicker very important when playing high cards, because the kicker will often decide the winner.
On the other hand, low and middle cards will not win very often when making one pair. Even if they do, small differences in the quality of the kicker will not matter nearly as often as it will with hands containing high cards. In other words, a pair of sevens with a nine kicker will not win very many more pots than a pair of sevens with an eight kicker. Low and middle hands are far more likely to win if you complete a straight or a flush. So, when evaluating the strength of low and middle hands, keep in mind that the value lost from having a gap (as opposed to having connectors) is greater than the value gained from having your kicker be one point higher.
Usage: Suited Connectors, Unsuited Connectors
Unsuited Connectors
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