How do you play nine eight suited?

Open it from anywhere there is not too much to get through, and call raises in position with deep stacks. It flops straight draws and flushes that get paid off by overpairs and top pairs, which is where the money comes from. Out of position and in small pots it is much weaker, because it cannot reliably realize all that drawing equity.

This hand opens for a raise from every position, including under the gun.

Common mistake: Treating a middle pair as a reason to build a big pot. The whole point of the hand is the draws, not pairing the nine or the eight.

Quick tip: Implied odds are the whole game. Deep stacks and position, or fold.