Playing Medium Connecting
Cards
Often thought of as drawing
hands, medium connecting cards are great hands
to play cheaply in multi-way pots. Middle
connectors lack value before the flop, so they
are often played passively. Moreover, when they
hit after the flop - players often do not see
them coming. As a result, medium connectors,
both suited and unsuited have what it takes to
extract a ton of money from many players in
specific instances.
Ideally, middle connecting
cards are best played in later position and when
a flop can be taken cheaply. Moreover, medium
connectors stand up well in multi-way pots -
considering they pay well when hands are hit,
but require sufficient odds to play them
profitably.
Situation: $1-2 NL Texas
Holdem, loose and selectively aggressive table.
We are on the button. The player in the cutoff
loves to raise both positionally and
situationally before the flop. His preflop raise
comes with a guaranteed continuation bet.
Additionally, when his opposition plays
passively, he typically jams the turn,
regardless of whether he is heads up or
multi-way. Big blind has $520 in chips and is a
tight aggressive player after the flop, but
passive before the flop. The cutoff player holds
$216 in chips, while we hold $231 in chips.
The hand is dealt and the
cutoff raises to $6, which is his standard late
position raise. We call with a nine of spades
and eight of diamonds. The big blind
additionally calls. Three handed and $19 in the
pot, the flop comes four of hearts, ten of
spades, and a seven of diamonds.
The big blind bets $12. The
cutoff calls cleanly, which is a bit odd -
considering he was the preflop aggressor and
almost auto-bets or raises the flop. We shake
our heads while looking at the monitor and call
as well, as we have an open-ended straight draw
and wish to see the card as cheaply as possible.
A raise may trigger a re-raise
war from the two aggressive players we are up
against. Our hand has not yet completed and
lacks showdown value at the moment, thus we
cannot correctly raise.
Continue Your Poker
Education at The
Full Tilt Poker Academy and
Learn From the Best Poker Pros in the Game
Visit The Full Tilt Poker Academy
With $55 in the pot, the turn
brings a six of clubs, placing a club flush draw
on the board, however our straight has
completed. The big blind bets $45 and the cutoff
raises to $135. We are quite confused. While
both players are known for their aggression, we
are sitting with the best hand presently. Sure,
the flush draw is out there, but we are well
served in moving all-in. The cutoff could have
anything from ace high on down to top pair, and
maybe even a set or an over pair. Though
historically, this player would play a stronger
hand harder on the flop. It stands to reason
that he has ace high or top pair at most.
The blind is also quite
aggressive, though has a bit higher standards
than the cutoff. However, the big blind cannot
have that strong a holding; otherwise, he would
have re-popped
before the flop. So, an over pair is not a
reasonable assumption. He may, however, hold a
set or even a nut flush draw.
After pondering each possible
holding, we make the move all-in. Both players
call, with the blind doing so based on hand
strength and the cutoff surely doing so because
of pot odds.
The river delivers an Ace of
hearts. The cutoff shows two pair (Ace - Ten),
while the big blind shows a set of fours. We
take down the monstrosity of a pot with a
straight six through ten - bringing in a cool
$675 in chips.
In this hand, it occurred to
us early on that the opposing players were both
aggressive post flop. We had identified that
while we normally play the button aggressively,
we were better served not doing so, as we wanted
to see the turn card cheaply. We did not wish to
begin a war without a made hand and knew betting
would occur before our turn on fourth street.
When we completed our straight, we risked
allowing a player to see a river card while pot
committed but without chips in the center of the
pot. Thus, we moved on the pot. Middle
connecting cards such as 9-8 hold up well
against multiple players and take down big pots
when they make hands such as a straight.
|
