Part: Part Two - Playing Styles & Starting Requirements

A speculative hand, cheaply

Pre-flop
Blinds 100 / 200Pot 700 (3.5 BB)BTN7♠6♠● 25,000 (125 BB)YOUto actMP● 25,000 (125 BB)LimperlimpsHJ● 25,000 (125 BB)LimperlimpsSB● 25,000 (125 BB)posts 100 (0.5 BB)BB● 25,000 (125 BB)posts 200 (1 BB)D

Two players limp in and it folds to you on the button with 7♠6♠ - a small suited connector. With limpers in, you can see a cheap flop in position.

Two limpers; you're on the button with 7♠6♠. Best play?

WhyTwo limpers are already in and you're on the button with a hand that wants company and a cheap price - 7-6 suited makes the draws and two pairs that get paid off precisely in multiway pots. Come along for the minimum. Raising bloats a pot with a hand that has no interest in playing it big pre-flop, and folding passes up one of the best speculative spots there is.
What happensYou limp; the blinds come along. Four players see the flop. Pot: 800 (4 BB).
Flop
4-way potPot 800 (4 BB)5♥8♦K♣BTN7♠6♠● 25,000 (125 BB)YOUopen-ended straight drawSB● 25,000 (125 BB)checksBB● 25,000 (125 BB)checksMP● 25,000 (125 BB)LimperchecksHJ● 25,000 (125 BB)LimperchecksD

Flop: 5♥ 8♦ K♣ - you flop an open-ended straight draw (any 4 or 9 makes the straight). It checks around to you.

You flop an open-ender and it checks to you on the button. Best?

WhyEight clean outs to the straight and a king that four players just declined to bet - that's a spot to fire, not check. You fold out the floats with air, and when called you're still live to a hand that stacks people. It won't get there every time; the bet profits from the fold equity plus the draw, not from any promise that you hit.
What happensYou bet 500 (2.5 BB); only the big blind calls. Pot: 1,800 (9 BB).
Turn
Heads-upPot 1,800 (9 BB)5♥8♦K♣9♥BTN7♠6♠● 25,000 (125 BB)YOUmade straightBB● 25,000 (125 BB)Big blindchecksD

Turn: 9♥ - you complete your straight (5-6-7-8-9). The big blind checks.

You just made the straight. The big blind checks. Best?

WhyNow it's filled - 5-6-7-8-9 - on a board coordinated enough that a king, two pair, or a flush draw will all pay. Bet for value while those hands still exist. Check it, and a fourth heart or a pairing river can freeze the action you're entitled to collect right now.
What happensYou bet 1,300 (6.5 BB); he calls. Pot: 4,400 (22 BB).
River
Heads-upPot 4,400 (22 BB)5♥8♦K♣9♥2♣BTN7♠6♠● 25,000 (125 BB)YOUthe nut straightBB● 25,000 (125 BB)Big blindchecksD

River: 2♣ - a blank, and no flush gets there. The big blind checks.

River bricks; you hold the nut straight and he checks. Best?

WhyYou hold the unbeatable end of it and the river bricked every draw, so the only way to lose value is to check. A player who called the turn is often sitting with a king or two pair he can't fold to one more bet; size it to look payable and let him pay.
What happensYou bet 2,600 (13 BB), he calls with K-J, and the nut straight is good. A hand you risked almost nothing on pre-flop just booked a 13-BB pot - cheap and in position, that's the whole case for suited connectors.
You came along for the minimum in position, fired your open-ender as a semi-bluff, and got paid when it filled. Suited connectors don't earn by being strong up front - they earn on the flops you hit hard, which is exactly why you only ever pay a little to see them.

Small suited connectors are implied-odds hands, not pre-flop-strength hands: get in cheap, in position, in a multiway pot, and let the big payoffs the rare times you connect cover every flop you whiff.