Playing with Suited Cards

In this article, we will discuss the suited card strategy in Texas Hold'em. Suited is a starting hand that has two cards of the same suit – with a higher potential to complete a flush, depending on the community cards.

It is common to be tempted (especially by beginners) to overvalue this type of hand. However, it is known that the advantage of a suited hand over its copy with different suits is small.

As an example, we will analyze the hand: :Ks :7s

This is the type of hand that is highly valued by inexperienced players, who even use it in early positions.

Statistically speaking, the advantage of :Ks :7s over :Kd :7c is only 3%. Considering that the second leg is of low quality, what can be said about the first?

If you enter a hand with :Ks :7s you need very favorable community cards:

1. Flop of 3 spades (approximate odds: 2%) – You’ve made your flush, but don’t get too excited. If there’s no Ace on the board, you may be up against an opponent who has it, making a higher flush or drawing to a higher flush. Even if no one has the Ace, the chances of you getting action on this type of board are slim.

2. Flop of 2 spades (approximate odds: 12%) – You have a strong flush draw, but once again you will have to worry about an Ace if it is not on the board. Even if no one has it, you have a hand that probably needs to improve to win. If the third spade appears, opponents will tend to play more cautiously.

3. Flop with a King (approximate odds: 17%) – You have flopped a high pair of kings. If you have an Ace on the board, you may already be way behind your opponents. Even if you don’t, there is a reasonable chance that you are up against someone who also has a king, but with a higher kicker.

These examples are meant to show that with suited cards you usually need help on the flop to win, and even if you get good community cards you can still run into trouble.

Party Poker is back in Brazil! Learn about the bonus and benefits when creating your Poker Dicas affiliate account.

So when should you play suited hands? Let's look at the types of playable suited hands, with considerations:

Hands with an Ace and another card of the same suit

These are hands with the potential to form maximum flushes, which is great. Let's divide them into three groups:

• Second card = 10, J, Q or K: best group, as we have the possibility of a nut flush, nut straight, or a pair of Aces with a good kicker.
• Second card = 2, 3, 4 or 5: in addition to the chance of a flush, the possibility of getting a low straight, a rare hand but with the potential to win a lot of chips.
• Second card = 6, 7, 8 or 9: worst of the groups, as the only possibility of a strong hand is the flush, since a pair of Aces with this type of kicker would be a dangerous hand.

The hands in the first group can be played more liberally, depending on the value of the kicker, even in early position. The hands in the second and third groups are more speculative. They can be used in hands with many players, for a cheap bet, or in late position. If the flop has two cards of your suit and an additional chance of some other game, consider taking the initiative in the betting.

This type of hand is most useful in the early and mid-stages of tournaments, when it is cheaper to see the flop and there tends to be more active players in the hand. In tournaments with high blinds, it will be very expensive to risk hands like this.

Take advantage of your study time and create your 888 Poker account by clicking this link! You'll get $88 free* and you can also play our weekly $100 freeroll every Tuesday! (*$8 cash and $80 bonus).

Hands with suited connectors with or without a gap

These are interesting hands, with good potential especially if played in late positions at the table. The existence of a gap reduces the potential of the hand. Examples:

:7s :8s (suited without gap)

:9h :Jh (suited with gap).

The ideal combination for this combination would be to flop a flush with a straight. Once again, we will discuss in groups:

• :As :Ks to :Js :Ts – In this group we have hands with the potential to make strong plays: flush, straight, two high pair. Despite this, it is not uncommon to find players who also have high cards, with the risk of forming flushes or straights bigger than yours. An example of the value that this type of hand can have is if you have :Kd :Qd on a flop of :Ad :Jd :5c and your opponent has pocket aces or even two pair. In this case you would have almost a 50% chance of completing a flush or straight and the potential to form a big pot.

• :Td :9d to :7d :6d – Despite the potential for a flush, straight or two pair, you will often be fighting for a hand that may be dominated. In these cases you expect low-card flops, and the flush should be evaluated carefully, due to the risk of someone having a higher flush.

• :6c :5c to :3c :2c – These are risky hands, because most of the time your hand will not be the highest possible on the table. Your flush will be with low cards, and your straight will be on the low end. They should not be played in early position, and should be avoided even in late position.

Other combinations

If your hand is only strong enough to make a flush, and even then it's not the highest possible, you have a problem. Even in short-stack situations, I would avoid using this type of hand to try to recover.

Final considerations

Suited hands are often overvalued. Even when you flop a flush draw, you run the risk of not making the flush or even making it against someone who has a higher flush.

Unlike low pairs, suited hands don't tend to win big pots. The presence of three suited cards among the community cards tends to cool down the action a lot.

The suited hands that should be valued the most are those with the potential to form other good hands, such as a straight or two high pair. The rest should be reserved for special situations such as good position, semi-bluffs and blind stealing.