Suited Connectors in Hold'em NL SnGs

[redsamurai]

I am making the transition from a mid-stakes limit hold'em player to more rounded player by plying more no limit SnGs. Things are going well but it is clear that I'm playing too tight. I'm almost always near the money but need to have caught a hand that beats an all-in to be in a good position to win. It seems clear to me that I need to do more chip collection before the blinds get too high. Here is the question: When and which suited connectors and semi-connectors are playable? Since it always depends, here are some factors to concider: position reletive to the blinds, position reletive to stack sizes, number of players to have entered the pot, quality of players to enter the pot or yet to act. To be more specific when would you play the following hands and why: J [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] T [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 5 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 6 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], and Q [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] T [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]?

[La Brujita]

To give you a short answer to a complex question, it is better to have them in position, to have a multi way pot and to play them cheaply. To amplify a bit:

1. Position generally means with respect to the button, but can also mean with respect to a preflop aggressor. The last thing you want is to be trapped in the middle of a check raise.

2. I try to follow the 5%/10% rule in deciding whether or not to play. If I am committing about 5-6% of my stack I feel fine about playing them.

3. Hands like these don't play that well heads up so the looser and more passive the game the more comfortable I feel.

4. In no limit, even more so than limit you need to be very careful against overplaying the second best hand. My only thoughts are if you make top pair with a hand like QT and someone is going to bust it rates to be you (to steal an old line).

I hope this helps and please note many people may have other answers. I see a lot of people like to play very tight the first few rounds and avoid hands like these, in my mind that might be a bit of a mistake because your implied odds are highest in these rounds.

Regards

[GuidoSarducci]

I agree this this is a somewhat complicated question and could generally be answered with "it depends".

A lot has to do with the read of the table and whether you think you're going to face a raise. Suited connectors thrive on implied odds, so you want to see the flop cheap and you want many people in the pot. To lower the risk of getting raised, these only really have equity in late position if you can limp in.

If you don't hit your flush or straight, though this hand is pretty much done. Too many times will you hit the top pair with something like JT only to be shown AT.