Four-Three suited can look pretty good after being card dead for some time!
But although it might seem like a dynamic hand, you should be careful about when you decide to play it.
Frankly, Four-Three suited isn’t that great. If you play it too often and in the wrong situations, you risk losing money over the long term.
Don’t worry, though!
In this article, I will share how to play this hand optimally preflop and give you tips for playing on the flop. Let’s dive in!
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Like with any other starting hand, it’s critical to consider position when deciding what to do with Four-Three suited.
These are the positions that will be referenced in this section:
Barring certain reads, Four-Three suited is not strong enough to open-raise from any position in a standard cash game.
The main issues with Four-Three suited that make it a losing open-raise are:
If you have certain reads, however, Four-Three suited can be a profitable raise. For example, if you’re on the Button and the two players in the blinds are very tight and passive, you can loosen up your range to include Four-Three suited.
One other note: if there’s an ante in play, Four-Three suited becomes strong enough to raise from the Button and Small Blind. That extra money in the pot makes a big difference!
Against open raises, you can only profitably play Four-Three suited from the Big Blind (due to the improved pot odds + the fact that you’re closing the action).
From the Big Blind, Four-Three suited can be profitably called against any position (including 9-max) as long as the raise size is 2.5bb or less.
If faced with a 3bb raise, you can call with it against the late positions (Cutoff, Button) and the Small Blind.
After defending from the Big Blind, you should split between check-raising and check-calling on most flops when you hit bottom pair.
This might seem counter-intuitive if you are used to check-raising with only strong hands and draws. Let me explain with an example:
Say the Button raises and you call in the Big Blind with 4d 3d. The flop comes Kh 8d 4c and you face a c-bet.
This is a good spot to mix between calling and check-raising. Your hand is decent, but vulnerable. By check-raising with it, you get some weak overcard-type hands to fold. You can also get called by a few hands you are beating like some Ace-highs with backdoor draws.
A secondary reason for taking this approach is to optimize your range distribution across the different runouts, also known as board coverage. For example, if the turn is another 4x, now you have trips in your range!
If you’ve been playing poker for some time and you haven’t had the success that you’ve hoped for, this is probably one of the core reasons.
I have seen a lot of newer players to the game play too passively when they have strong hands such as trips and two pair (or better). Although it is sometimes optimal to slow-play, the variables that make it the correct strategy (in theory) are rarely present in real-life games.
So, when you call from the Big Blind, flop a big hand, and your opponent c-bets, JUST RAISE!
There are certain boards where overbet on the flop is appropriate. Example boards are Th 8h 4s, Jd 9c 3d, and Qc 9c 4s.
When facing an overbet on these types of flops, it is appropriate to check-fold with your Four-Three suited.
The reasoning behind this strategy is that you:
For these reasons, you should cut your losses sooner rather than later.
Draws can make great check-raise bluffs since they usually don’t have much showdown value, can improve to the best hand, and make better hands fold.
But you can’t get carried away and check-raise with every possible draw; they also make great candidates for check-calling. They are weak hands that can improve to the best hand. They can keep the pot small until they complete or attempt to steal the pot on future streets.
The picture I am painting here is that draws have very good reasons to be in both the check-raising and check-calling ranges. For this reason, you should mix between these two lines with all of your draws: Combo draws, flush draws, open-ended straight draws, and gutshot straight draws.
A pattern that holds true in all scenarios is that stronger draws should be check-raised more often than weaker draws.
The main reason will sound obvious once you read it…
You should want to increase the size of the pot with hands that have a higher chance of winning. Therefore, a strong draw like an open-ender (4s 3s on Js 5d 2c) should be check-raised more often than a gutshot (4s 3s on Js 6d 2c).
I am talking about boards such as A92, A82, A72, AT5.
On these boards, the best straight draws available are gutshots. As there are no open-enders with which to check-raise bluff, so gutshots become your high-frequency raises.
For example, if the Button c-bets on A72, you should check-raise with your Four-Three suited at least 50% of the time (and even close to 100% of the time when you have a backdoor flush draw to go with it).
There you have it, the 5-minute guide to crushing it with Four-Three suited. By following the blueprint I laid out in this article, you will be playing very well both preflop and on the flop.
Remember that in the game of poker, it’s not only about maximizing winnings. It’s also about minimizing losses. Correcting the mistakes you were making before with Four-Three suited will result in more money in your pocket.
That’s all for this guide! I hope you enjoyed it and that you learned something new from it!
Till’ next time, good luck, grinders!
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