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Suited connectors is a poker term referring to pocket cards that are suited and consecutive, for example Q♥ J♥. These hands are considered stronger than average because they have the potential to form straights and flushes on the pot.
Some people define suited connectors as cards which are close enough to each other that they can form a straight on the flop. For example: A♠ 3♠, ', 5♦ 9♦ are all suited connectors because they can form a flush or a straight on the flop. A hand like A♠ 7♠ is not considered a suited connector because although it is suited, the cards together do not help form a straight.
Suited connectors with no gap between them (Q♥ J♥) are referred to as no gap suited connectors. Suited connectors like A♠ 3♠ are considered one gap suited connectors since there is one gap between the two cards. You can also have two and three gap suited connectors, such as 3♠ 6♠ and 5♦ 9♦. In Texas hold'em, suited connectors play well against multiple players when they can see the flop for cheap. A player will generally not raise with them, because raising usually causes a few players to fold, decreasing the pot odds in the event of a straight or flush draw on the flop. However, a hand like ace-king suited might do well to raise because the cards will also work well if they pair, which is the more likely possibility, so the pot odds are less important.
Suited connectors in cash games
Suited connectors can be especially effective in deep stack poker. Professionals sometimes call the fish when he/she raises and re-raises with suited connectors in an attempt to win a big pot. Large stacks increase the value of suited connectors because of larger implied odds. In tournament play, where the stacks are normally shallow, suited connectors are very marginal hands. The idea behind playing suited connectors is that they will mostly be folded on the flop, but when they hit a quality draw or a made hand, a player should be looking to win all or a large portion of the opponent's stack. In Harrington on Cash Games, a chapter is dedicated on explaining the poker paradox: "Big hands" such as AA and KK tend to win small pots, and "small hands" such as 4-2 of spades tend to win big pots, simply because the small hands create well-concealed monsters and will only continue when they hit.