Playing Those Pesky Suited Connectors in Tournaments

This column is an excerpt from the new book that T. J. Cloutier and I are currently completing, titled Championship Tournament Hands. One of the hands that we discuss is 8 7. A lot has been written about playing medium suited connectors in cash games, but how do you play them in a tournament? If you have lots of chips or a medium stack and your hand is only 8-high, it's a chip burner. Even if you're playing an 8-7 against a short stack, there's a pretty good chance that he can beat an 8-high hand, so you're taking the worst of it. Instead of breaking the player, you're giving him a chance to double up.

There are very few situations in which you can play a hand like 8-7 suited in a tournament. These situations include playing it from the small blind for an extra half-bet in an unraised pot; from the big blind for a single raise if you have lots of chips and it's multiway action; or from the button for one bet when several limpers already are in the pot.

The 8-7 suited is virtually unplayable from early to middle position. If you're in late position and a few limpers are in the pot, that's a different story - now you have position. You need to have at least two callers in front of you to play the hand, even when you're next to the button or on the button. If you get a good flop to the hand, obviously you can play it further. But you have to get a perfect flop to a hand that's only 8-high; otherwise, it just eats up your chips. For that reason, it isn't a hand that you usually want to play in a tournament. The hands that you really want to play in tournament poker are the ones that you don't have to get a perfect flop to - and that is a big difference in tournament play and ring-game play. You don't want to have to take any heat with this type of hand. This advice also applies to other suited connectors such as 7-6 and 9-8.

However, if you are extremely short-stacked and have a chance to enter a multiway pot, you might call a raise with the 8 7 and even put in the rest of your chips with it, but only because you're in bad shape anyway. Also, it is unlikely that other people are playing these kinds of cards in a raised pot, so your hand might be live. You are playing for the added value that comes with a multiway pot. In other words, if you are extremely short-stacked, you might gamble with this hand if you can get a good price to it.

Some players don't mind taking a shot at the blinds with medium connectors such as 8-7 when they're in late position and are the first one in the pot, especially if the blinds are either exceptionally conservative players or extremely short-stacked. They rationalize playing this kind of hand by thinking, "I've got some chips and I have a chance to break this guy." We do not recommend this type of play.

Suppose you're playing $300-$600 late in a tournament and you have $5,000 in chips. If you are raising in the late stages with hands such as 8-7 suited, you're burning up your chips. And if you do that two or three times, you might find yourself suddenly down from $5,000 to $3,000. "I wonder where my chips went?" you'll ask. "I haven't made any bad plays." But you have. Let your opponents make those kinds of plays, not you.

It isn't your job to knock people out of a tournament. You have to knock out only one player - the last one. To expand this concept, suppose a player has J-2 in the big blind in a limit hold'em tournament. The blinds are $1,000-$2,000 and somebody who has only $4,000 in chips puts in the full $4,000 with an all-in raise. Everybody passes to the big blind and he says to himself, "It's only gonna cost me $2,000 more, so I'm gonna call and try to bust him." This is one of the worst plays in tournament hold'em. It isn't your job to break him. It isn't your job to lose an extra $2,000 on a hand that you had no business playing in the first place, yet you see so many players doing it.

When you are tempted to play those kinds of hands, always ask yourself, "Do I want to put my money in with the best hand, or do I want to have to draw out to win the hand?" That $2,000 might be worth $8,000 in a later hand when you have good cards with three callers in the pot with you. But if you lose that $2,000 with a play like the one we just described, you won't have it to win their $6,000 with. And that can make the difference when you get deep into a tournament.

Provided our medium suited cards connect with the right flops, I hope to meet you one day soon in the winner's circle.

Editor's note: Tom McEvoy is the author of Tournament Poker and the co-author with T.J. Cloutier of the Championship series. Their new book, Championship Tournament Hands, is due out in December. Visit www.pokerbooks.com for more information.

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