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Using Table Position to Your Advantage
Where you sit in relation to the dealer button at a poker table is a significant factor in how you will play your hand. What I’m about to reveal to you is perhaps one of the most important concepts of poker, no matter what poker game you play. Indeed, table position comes into play in Texas Hold’em, in Omaha, in RAZZ, HORSE, STUD, etc. The basic concepts of table position are an integral part of your poker strategy. For the purpose of this article, I will explain the concepts of table position using a no limit Texas Hold’em context, but this lesson applies to most online poker games.
Why is table position important?
To put it simply, there can be advantages or disadvantages to you depending on where you sit in relation to the dealer button. Generally speaking, acting late is favorable because you get to see how other people play before your turn comes up, and that can give you a sense of the strength of their hands. On the flip side, acting early means you don’t get that data. For the golfers out there, this is a bit like putting with a blindfold where you might know the general direction of the hole, but don’t get to see the variations in the terrain.
The basic position layout
Let’s say you have 10 players at a table, one of them is the dealer (D), the person to his or her left is in the small blind position (SB), and the following person is in the big blind position (BB). On the very first betting round, the first person to act will is the one to the left of the BB. This spot is called “under the gun” (UTG). I will refer to these terms in this article.
Playing in early position – First Betting Round
On the first betting round, consider UTG and the next two positions up the worse spots at the table because the betting starts with the person UTG. Typically, you should only play premium hands from these positions and open with a raise. The idea is that by raising, you’ll get some players to fold and you’ll “thin” the competition by then end of the first betting round. If you simply call with an average hand, it is very likely that someone else will raise by the time the other opponents play and when it comes back to you, you’ll likely be forced to fold and throw away your chips.
Playing in blinds position – First Betting Round
From the blind positions, you have a big advantage on the first betting round because you act last. You have an opportunity to steal pots. When you sense a lot of weakness from your opponents, meaning everyone just folded or called the minimum bet, you might want to consider a big raise and attempt to end the hand right there. Or in the BB, you might opt to play it safe and simply check in hopes of hitting the flop. The problem with this tactic is that the odds that you’ll hit are not in your favor, and the more opponents at the table, the greater chances one of them will hit the flop. And since you’ll be amongst the first to act next round, you’ll have no way to tell. It is not such a dangerous gamble because you didn’t really invest a lot in the pot to begin with. It becomes a greater gamble when the blinds get expensive, but when it pays off it often pays big.
Subsequent Betting Rounds – Reassess the Positions
Here’s a concept that most people don’t get, and few people write about. When some players folded their hand on the first betting round, they changed the order of things. I don’t like to refer UTG as the early position because in reality that may or may not be accurate. Let me give you a simple example: Round 1, UTG raises and everyone but the two blinds folded. On subsequent rounds, UTG will act last, thus isn’t really the early position anymore and has the advantage for the rest of the hand. When players fold, this changes who becomes in a position of advantage or disadvantage. I’ll give you another example where UTG becomes at a disadvantage: Round 1, UTG raises and player 4, 6 and 7 call while everyone else folds (including the blind positions). On subsequent rounds, UTG will go first thus is not in a favorable position.
Playing in late position
When you’re playing in late position, you get to play more hands, take more risks, and bluff more. Why is that? Partially because of pot odds: By the time your turn comes up, there’s already a bunch of money in the pot and calling the current bet is often mathematically correct. The other reason of course is you get to play the player. This means ignoring what two cards you hold and focusing on two things: A – figuring out what your opponents may hold and determining how strong they are, and B – tricking your opponents in thinking you are stronger than them. This is where reading opponents comes in handy, where you get to steal pots simply because you know they have nothing. While opponents may suspect that you have nothing as well, they still can’t call you with “their nothing”. So they fold, and you win.
Try this strategy today on Carbon Poker!
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