Poker Strategy: Position in Poker- it's Even More Important than You Think

September 13 2007, Stuart Rutter

Every player learning their trade on the felt hears soon enough that something called position is an important thing in poker. You will learn the tricks of this game far quicker when you realise that position is actually even more important than people think.

A good or bad position (the best of course sitting with the "dealer" button, and the worst being "under the gun") literally changes the value of your starting hand. Some strong hands become worthless in early position, and more marginal hands valuable to play in the late positions.

Let's imagine we're playing in a ten-handed game, and split the table into three bands (at the moment excluding the blinds), which we will call early

(E)

, middle

(M)

and late

(L)

positions.

Just as the first position is called "under the gun," the two positions to the right of the dealer button are respectively called the "cutoff," and the "hijack," for obvious reasons.

This table can be used well as a good guide to which you should open the pot with a raise with. It also shows with which hands you should play against a raise. Notice that this group of hands is smaller because of one crucial concept in poker; you need a much better hand to play against a raise than you do to open the pot with a raise yourself.

EARLY
POSITION
MIDDLE
POSITION
LATE
POISTION

Raise

Vs a Raise

Raise

Vs a Raise

Raise

Vs a Raise

AA
AA
AA
AA
AA
AA

KK
KK
KK
KK
KK
KK

QQ
QQ
QQ
QQ
QQ
QQ

JJ
JJ
JJ
JJ
JJ
JJ

1010
1010
1010
1010
1010
1010

99
AKs
99
99
99
99

88
AK
88
88
88
88

AKs
AQs
77
77
77
77

AK

66
AKs
66
66

AQs

AKs
AK
55
AKs

AQ

AK
AQs
44
AK

AJs

AQs
AQ
33
AQs

AQ
AJs
22
AQ

AJs

AKs
AJs

AJ

AK
A10s

A10s

AQs
KQs

KQs

AQ

AJs

AJ

A10s

A10

A9s

KQs

KQ

QJs

J10s

109s

Of course, these are not the only two possibilities. You may decide to "limp" into the pot (i.e flat call). This is a good idea with speculative hands like suited connectors and small pairs, and is right in certain circumstances. It needs your stack size to be big, and the blinds small. This way, a flat call is only risking a small fraction of your stack, maybe at most 5%.

This table is a great rough guide as to how to play in a game of raises, and is worth having by your side when you start to play. It may seem quite tight at first, but notice that it allows far more scope in later positions. This big difference in the starting hands you can choose in different positions is the crucial lesson. It is fair to say that A10 in a late position is "worth" just as much AQ suited under the gun.

So, why should a better position on the table allow you to play far more starting hands? Here are the reasons.

• All the hands left to act behind you are an unknown factor and could be strong. In the first position, there are still nine possibly strong hands still to clear.

• If a pot is unraised in a late position, you have far fewer threats on the table. With a small number of hands left to act, there is a far greater chance that a raise will take down the blinds.

• Any given hand is worth more in a late position, as it has all the advantages after the flop of playing "in positon."

So, why is it such a good thing to be playing "in position?"

Better knowledge of the opponent's hands

A player in the best position (last to act) can make their decision based on the information of all the actions at the table. Of course players may disguise their hand by checking a strong hand or bluffing a weak one, but, in general, a pot checked to you on the button is one you are far more likely to take down with a bet. A pot that is raised and re-raised before it gets to you now gives you the advantage of being able to re-evaluate and get away from a marginal hand.

Sneaking out an extra value bet

On later streets you will also be able to act with more knowledge of the strength of opponent's hands. Let's say you go heads up to the river with AQ on a board of QJJ102.

This is a scary board, and if you are first to act with your opponent's hand an unknown factor, you may be well advised to check. If you are "in position" and your opponent has checked, he has decreased the chance that he has a very strong hand. With it now more likely that he is playing a marginal hand, you may be able to sneak in a little value bet with your top pair, top kicker, and get paid off.

Pulling off a well-timed bluff

If you are in position and have more information, you have more opportunities to seize on your opponent's weakness and pull off a bluff.

Let us take the same QJJ102 board, but this time you yourself have nothing. Now, your opponent makes a very small bet at the pot. This may well be something called a "stopper" or "defensive" bet, and often says that your opponent has a small piece of the board, but is not strong. It basically says he does not want to face a big bet or raise; so, if you think your opponent may lay his hand down, do exactly that! Note that this would not be possible playing out of position without the knowledge that your opponent's stopper bet gives you.

How to play from the blinds

The table does not include any information on how to play from the small or big blind. It is true to say one very common mistake inexperienced players make is that they call too many raises from the blinds. Remember that the blinds play after the flop in the worst position on the table, and therefore suffer from all the uncertainties of playing out of position. Cut down on the number of calls you make from the blinds, and instead get really active when you hold that dealer button.

A suggestion

To understand the advantages of playing in position, get out some tape and cover all the other hands when you are playing in position. Of course, this is risky with much money at stake, but go down the stakes and see just how much you can do playing strongly in positon.

Ed note: Have you picked up your FREE $50 at Titan Poker yet?

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