Trouble with a Suited Connector

Great point about not raising in position against a polarizing bet. To me, seeing this the first time, I didn’t feel like the bet was that polarizing, even if it clearly is from a GTO perspective. I don’t play much in that environment, though, and so it may well be that this group of players would normally only make that bet with a fairly strong hand or a bluff, and as I reconsider that point, I do tend to think the bet was at least a little polarizing, given that villain limped pre flop, and is first to act.

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Well, 2 pretty strong players and a donkey like me :slight_smile:

Poker is way hard. Multiway pots are extremely difficult, even with well defined ranges. There’s no chance I put the initial limper on AK so ranges are even wider than my wildest estimations going in. I also considered the pot sized bet to be polarizing as it is a size that should almost never be used multiway in a well constructed range. Maybe I’m wrong and it means TP+, period. If each of us see something different in the input part of the equation, our outputs should not be the same.

One of the reasons I’m not too hung up on the solver results for this hand is that I think working out the fundamentals is more important. Yes, scratching out the fractions of BB’s at the margins is necessary at some point but not here. Big concepts that we get down will be more beneficial to our winrates than anything else. Knowing what a well constructed preflop range looks like at different stack depths is a great place to start. Then move on to IP vs OOP, bet sizes, board textures and so on.

If opponents are making errors of this magnitude both pre and post flop, hammer out the biggest possible exploits against them first and fine tune later.

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I never expected that this hand would be played so much differently be expierienced players like you guys, its an interesting debate and thank you all who have said your thoughts

I’d be interested in hearing what the solver thinks in the two situations that are the most questionable, the preflop, and postflop call, but keep in mind these players are no where near GTO so I should not play like GTO either so I’ll keep that in the back of my head.

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Yeah, that is definitely important to consider. You don’t need GTO or balance to beat these games. The other two commentors are better poker players than I am, but my final conclusion is just fold pre and save yourself the headache. Limping behind is really fine, but no need to play a big pot unless you flop the monster or combo draw.

Suited connectors are great to have in your range, and while they do perform well multi way, you want to use them to raise and semi bluff, not to be in spots where raising is ugly because they don’t have the pure equity to be played passively.

You don’t need to be balanced, so you really don’t need to have semi bluffs or interact with lots of board textures. Be the aggressor with hands that are ahead of your opponents’ range.

Against really good opponents, then follow the solver. Just my two cents.

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If it seems I can see the flop cheap I’m interested. I do like the premium hands that can occur with suited connectors and play them jus because.

Actually tried several connectors this morning and Jus so-so…

Sometimes they are nice and sometimes they are useless and sometimes they get me stuck in these kind of spots

Unfortunately I think it is too early in your gambling life for comment. You do need to watch how the other players are playing and get a good idea of their ability and also their habits. Looking at your calculator is also what learners do. You should instantly know values [not as a percentage, but as likelyhood] and not look for percentages. That will only confuse you as no doubt your emotions will also play a part, in the background but often surface helping you make wrong decisions. Your stack is your decision and always remember luck plays a large part in this game. To lose with a perfect hand should be appreciated as a strong lesson. Playing for $1,500 at final table I once flopped AA10 to my pair of tens. The usual punter followed my allin and the other player looked agast. “There is only 4 aces in the pack, me her and him. That’s 5aces?” He followed! Then came2 Queens. I could have cried!!! Sure I punted that there were not a pair of Aces but their initial blinds said there wasn’t. S… happens and I could have used that $1500 which my stack, if I had won that hand, almost guaranteed. No calculator required. I am almost certain also that 90% of onlookers thought I was crazy. No proper appreciation.