[drzen]

Good question!

I'm a very moderate sort of player, so I mostly stay away from unsuited connectors. I couldn't agree more with your analysis. Bigger cards, such as QJ and JT are trouble hands; smaller ones hit so infrequently that they have little value.

In a tourney, I'll pay a bet to play most connectors from the button though, at early levels at least. I guess I'd raise an unopened pot with JT+, and if the blinds are tight, I might take a nibble with T9 and even 98. I think most players overplay QJ, and I tend to chuck it unless I'm in position. Because I play a lot of sngs, I've got into the habit of limping KQ mostly. Probably a habit I should get out of.

In limit, I might complete the small blind with small unsuited connectors, but I chuck them outside the blinds. I might steal with T9, but if the blinds are at all loose, I'm not so keen.

In sitngoes, I generally don't play less than QJ, and I only play that on the button for a single bet early. It becomes a push at high blinds, but I'm never all that happy pushing it. I'll complete with connectors at the low levels, I suppose, particularly if I don't think the opposition is good.

I agree with Gonso that these are easy cards to play in most forms of holdem. I think you can pretty much play fit or fold to the max, and they're rarely going to be that good a fit even. If you're alive to trouble, they're playable. Alive to trouble means that if you play 54 and flop Q54, your hand is a lot weaker than it seems at first look, particularly if you have a crowd along with you. If you then turn a K or T, for instance, your pretty two pair can turn round and bite you.