How do You Play Speculative Hands?
by shakin65
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Introduction
In this article- When to play speculative hands
- How to play speculative hands
Speculative hands are hands like suited connectors (78s) and small pairs (44). These hands aren't very good on their own, but you can win big pots when you hit the flop well.
This is why you only play speculative hands in the early phase of a SnG. Your stack is very large in relation to the size of the blinds, which means the ratio between possible winnings and costs of seeing the flop is very high. You can also play speculative hands in the middle phase of a tournament if the right conditions are fulfilled.
We will start by looking at the various speculative hands:
- Suited Connectors
Two cards in numerical order of the same suite.
- Off-suited Connectors
Two cards in numerical order, but not of the same suit.
- One Gap Connectors
Two cards with a single gap in the numerical sequence.
- Suited Aces
An ace with a second card of the same suit.
- Small Pocket Pairs
A small pair dealt to you.
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#1
roshe40, 08 Mar 08 12:38
Playing these speculative hands in later positions would also have the benefit of maximizing your earn on them when u complete your draw - as most or all of your opponents would have to act on their hands prior to you#2
styc0, 15 Apr 08 18:38
ioi#3
nVIDIA69, 31 May 08 16:43
ur right#4
theboydave, 23 Jul 09 23:52
this article perfecly answers what to do with them hands you think is worth a cheap bet on and how often each type pay off nice one.#5
neamtujose, 03 Aug 09 18:57
I lost a half of a year on FTP until i red this article.Article is very usefull.
I hope to prouve that.
#6
Hahaownedlolz, 02 Jan 10 03:13
i don't agree with the last hand.you pretty much have the nuts on the river so why bet? what are you afraid of? if you opponent has Trips J or a Q there are only 4 cards in the deck at most which you dont want to see.. like the example if you have a tight image then bet on the turn you will probably always get 2 folds unless maybe if the player has a J.
Since they showed no strenght in fact betting 20 on flop after 40 preflop is A dumb B a sign of weakness. (its pretty safe to say they don't have a J and slowplaying you, since they don't want to see more cards they would bet for protection/value)
So basicaly 99% of the time you would not be beat on the river no matter what card comes unless they played it like a donkey. and i bet even the worst player would slowplay monster hands..
So imo you should check as you have the best flush draw they may have a straightdraw or a pair. and could get a straight/weaker flush or two pair or a set on the river in which case you would get payed off even if its only a little more chips.
#7
navigator75, 24 Jan 10 12:04
Thanks for this article. I usually do not play speculative hands because I think my postflop play is still developing, and at the limits I play, most opponents can not lay down their hand so I never know where I am in the hand. Being called all the way to the river with bottom pair pf is the norm rather than the exception. Am I up against a monster or a pair of 6s? I will try to implement some of the strategies you have suggested here and perhaps it will also help improve my pf play at the same time. Thanks again.#8
ceadme, 29 Jan 10 01:45
I completely agree with Hahaownedlolz, you have the pot in your pocket, why not let him bluff with the flush, very good article by the way.#9
Koshburger, 10 Feb 10 02:01
ok#10
muel294, 21 Apr 10 01:08
I don't like the gutshot call. We are getting 4:1 on a call on the flop , although we are 10/11:1 against to hit our gutshot Q on the turn. Also as it says in the hand analysis we aren't sure if our J/K or live and even if we hit we are not confident of where we are in the hand.I understand the huge implied odds if we make our gutshot, but we have to be getting our opponents to stack most of the time, if we make our hand and they hardly ever pay us off then surely this is unprofitable in the long run??
Also, what sort of level (buy-in wise) should we start introducing this into our range? Is it just to mix up our play, because I'm trying to stick the starting hands charts for the time being.
#11
luitzen, 06 May 10 21:17
@Hahaownedlolz: except for when another hearts shows up on the river. You shouldn't expect much value from your hand in that case.#12
fryandspicy, 30 May 10 17:08
When it says "You can occasionally play suited aces from early or, preferably, middle position if the table image allows.", does it mean early as in UTG?Isn't that contrary to everything else the article suggests?
#13
shumacher96, 26 Jul 10 06:18
@muel924 I think you should start using this in like the $2 levels because there is still fish and donks but there is a lot less and are developed players and now know what they are doing most of the time.#14
SPADES1, 02 Feb 11 17:00
in answer to. #6 Hahaownedlolz, 02 Jan 10 04:13i don't agree with the last hand.
you pretty much have the nuts on the river so why bet? what are you afraid of? if you opponent has Trips J or a Q there are only 4 cards in the deck at most which you dont want to see.. like the example if you have a tight image then bet on the turn you will probably always get 2 folds unless maybe if the player has a J.
Since they showed no strenght in fact betting 20 on flop after 40 preflop is A dumb B a sign of weakness. (its pretty safe to say they don't have a J and slowplaying you, since they don't want to see more cards they would bet for protection/value)
So basicaly 99% of the time you would not be beat on the river no matter what card comes unless they played it like a donkey. and i bet even the worst player would slowplay monster hands..
So imo you should check as you have the best flush draw they may have a straightdraw or a pair. and could get a straight/weaker flush or two pair or a set on the river in which case you would get payed off even if its only a little more chips.
I partoally agree with you even if there sth wrong:
1) If a player has trips J has 6 out and not 4 (JQQQXXX, where X is the other poket card that we dont know) it follows that he should call for odds if pot odds are less than 13,04%. So I wouldn't give a free card checking but I would bet 1/3 of the pot in order to make him do a mathematical error. By calling 1/3 he should be at least 19,88%, so he makes a mistakes. If the board paires at the river I will not pay him so his play won't be correct from the point of view of implied odds.
2)You would check in order to give free cards for a lower flush, correct or a set... not correct aset would be automatically a full since the board is paired.
I would be happy to hear your opinion.
#15
SPADES1, 02 Feb 11 17:06
Oppo with JX has obvoiusly 7 out...so he should call if the pot odds are less then 14,89%, anyway a bet of 1/3 of the pot works (19,88%) in the same way as explained above.I'm eager to read your answer.
#16
Shkrll, 03 Jun 11 07:49
I would agree with SPADES1 about betting on the turn. In my opinion you need to put a bet in for a couple of reasons. There are two more players in the hand and you don't want to give them the odds to draw to a better hand than the flush. I would say that if someone did have a J then there's 10 outs to hit on the river (JQQQXXX333) so a bet is correct to protect your own hand. If you do have the best hand here obviously you want to be building the pot to win more than 190. A stubborn J might pay the 100 if they didn't believe you had the flush so it gives them an opportunity to make a mistake. Finally, a bet here gives you more information. Normally you don't know what your opponents are holding so if you get a caller to the raise you've got to believe that at very least one player has two pair or JJJ. If one of the 10 outs does come on the river then you can shut down and hopefully minimise your loss.