Suited connectors are a fan favorite, especially Seven-Six suited.
Seven-Six suited is a highly versatile hand with fantastic playability. It has good equity against almost every range of hands, and it’s one of the very few starting hands with an over 20% chance of cracking Pocket Aces (22.29% to be exact).
This article covers:
Let’s get started.
Position is one of the main factors you should consider when deciding whether or not to play Seven-Six suited before the flop. I’ll be referencing table positions a lot throughout this section, so here’s a handy graphic to make sure everyone reading is on the same page:
Seven-Six suited is strong enough to open-raise from any position in a 6-max game. In a 9-handed game, Seven-Six suited is a mixed frequency open-raise from the 3 earliest positions, meaning it can really go either way. You wouldn’t be wrong to fold it, nor would you be wrong to raise it.
Against open-raises, you have to be attentive to which position your opponent is raising from and which position you are currently in.
When you’re playing from Middle Position through Button: If you’re facing a raise and hold Seven-Six suited, you should mostly fold. 3-betting isn’t a big mistake, but you certainly shouldn’t be doing it every time. The exception is when you’re the Button vs a Cutoff raise, in which case you should call or 3-bet.
When you’re playing from the Small Blind: Always fold Seven-Six suited versus a raise. If you’re against a Button raiser, specifically, you can sprinkle in some 3-bets at a low frequency if you want to. But most players reading this will perform better in the long-run by always folding.
When you’re playing from the Big Blind: Always continue with Seven-Six suited because you are closing the action and getting great pot odds. That being said, the way you should continue — either by calling or 3-betting — depends once again on the position of the preflop raiser:
That’s the optimal way to play Seven-Six suited from the Big Blind.
(Note that this advice applies to games with high rake, such as $2/$5 and below live and 200NL and below online. You can play looser with Seven-Six suited in games with lower or timed rake.)
When out of position against the 3-bettor, solver solutions show that you should sometimes call and sometimes fold with Seven-Six suited. Mixing between calling and folding equally is a good approach in these situations, except when you the Small Blind against the Big Blind (in which case you should call more often).
When you’re in position against the 3-bettor, you should always call when you’re playing from the Button or Cutoff. If you’re in the Hijack or earlier, on the other hand, you should only call some of the time and only if your opponent is a decent player who likely has a well-built 3-betting range.
Up against a nitty player’s 3-bet? Just fold and let them win a small pot with their Pocket Kings.
If you’ve 3-bet with Seven-Six suited and face a 4-bet, you should always call unless the 4-bet size is extremely big. This hand retains a good amount of equity against 4-betting ranges, doesn’t suffer from reverse implied odds, and has great playability since it can easily flop draws.
Note: Look up how to play any hand in every common preflop situation in less than 10 seconds. Get instant access to extensive preflop charts (for cash games and tournaments) when you join the Upswing Lab training course and community. Lock your seat now!
The Advanced Solver Ranges for cash games — one of six sets of preflop charts in the Upswing Lab.
Tips 1 and 2 assume you raised preflop and only one player called. Tip 3 is useful advice for playing Seven-Six suited after 3-betting with it.
Keep it simple! If you have a gutshot, open-ended straight draw, or flush draw, you should bet with it.
It’s best to keep your opponent in a tough spot by continuing your aggression from before the flop. Including these draws in your betting range also balances out your value hands, which makes you a much tougher opponent. Plus, you always have an escape hatch (your outs) should you get called.
Draws are great, but what happens when they complete on the turn? What are you going to bluff with on future streets if all of your bluffing hands hit something?
For example, suppose you raise preflop and the flop comes . You c-bet, your opponent calls, and the turn is the . All of the draws from the flop have now hit either a flush (spades), a straight (A3) or a pair (A4). If your only bluffing hands on the flop are draws, you will now struggle to bluff with the appropriate number of hands on the turn.
This is where the backdoor draws come in to help you make money. They help balance out the range and keep even the strongest opponents bluff-catching because they can’t be sure what you have: a strong hand or a weak hand.
Consider that again, but this time you have a specific hand: . This is a great spot to c-bet bluff with your backdoor straight draw. You still have an escape hatch should you get called: any 9, 8, 4, or 3 will give you a straight draw, and you can also hit a middle pair that very well may win at showdown.
When I say double broadway flops, I’m talking about boards that have two cards from Ace through Ten. and are a couple of examples.
The 3-bettor has a massive range advantage on double broadway flops because is more likely to have Ace-King or a big pocket pair (some of which are now sets). The caller will rarely if ever have these hands because she would have 4-bet with them before the flop.
You will have so many strong value hands on these boards that even a hand such as on is a must-bluff. Missing a c-bet bluff in this situation is a fundamental mistake. You would need to be up against the biggest of calling stations to justify not bluffing.
All of these tips assume you raised preflop and got exactly one caller.
On most boards, your middle or third pair is going to be medium strength hand which is best played passively. You’re looking to either showdown cheaply or improve to trips/two pair and get some value.
Betting does have merit particularly on certain disconnected flops (such as K-7-5) because you will generate a lot of fold equity even with a small bet. Plus, you’ll actually get some value from hands like 5x and Ace-high.
This is especially true when you are in position. (You can check-raise when out of position, so checking on the flop is more reasonable in that case.)
Betting will allow you to start building the pot and will have an exponential effect on the final size of the pot. In general, you should lean towards building the pot ASAP with very strong hands to maximize your expected value (EV).
Low boards, such as or , are favorable for the preflop caller, so you must play defensively with your entire range.
Including these weak top pairs with Seven-Six suited (which also has a straight draw on the example flops above) is a great way to strengthen your entire checking range. It will also make your life a lot easier — playing bloated pots out of position with a low top pair is usually not very fun.
If you start playing Seven-Six suited in the ways suggested above, I guarantee you’ll be making more profitable decisions on average.
That’s all for this article, guys! As usual, if you have any questions or feedback, please let me know in the comment section down below.
Want to learn mistakes to avoid with suited connectors in general? Check out 5 Strategic Mistakes to Avoid with Suited Connectors.
Until next time, good luck, grinders!
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