Introduction to Positional Play
There is a massive amount of material available regarding position at the poker table, however many players just don’t understand the importance or even the concept of position itself. These players are giving up an edge on every hand they play to others who understand and consider position when they come to the felt. There are four types of position at the poker table: early position, middle position, late position and the blinds. Knowing how to play and how others maybe playing according to there position at the table can lift your game to greater heights.
In early position which at a full table will be the first three seats to the left of the dealer button, there should be fewer hands played. The reason for a stricter starting hand requirement is there are many hands to act behind you and thus a greater possibility of strong hands still to act. Only play hands you will be happy to call a raise with, which generally means only play hands you are happy to open the betting with. Being last to act on any subsequent rounds of betting is a big advantage, the opposite is also true, being first to act is going to put you at significant disadvantage so hand strength is key. For newer players the best thing to do in early position is to play premium hands only, by this we mean high pocket pairs and Ace Jack suited or better.
In middle position, seats three to six on a full table. You will have a positional advantage over the three players that have acted before you, as well as the blinds after the flop. You can loosen up your hand selection, not too much though as there is still a minimum of three players to act after you. At this point suited connectors as well as medium pairs are playable in the right situation, as well as the premium starting hands mentioned above.
In late position (the player on the button and one seat to the right of the button) you have an advantage over all the players at the table except the blinds pre-flop, and absolutely everyone post-flop. In mainstream poker theory these are considered the best seats in the house, often referred to as ‘In Position’. Most experienced players loosen up a great deal ‘In Position’ and will mix up there game by playing aggressively a wide range of hands.
It does sound easy winning the pot with a late position raise with four seven off-suit, unfortunately that doesn’t happen as often as we would like. The general accepted term for late table position is the ‘stealing’ positions. This is when you can put in a raise (when you are first to enter the pot) and the blinds will more than likely fold, this strategy will work on occasion but must be used carefully. As poker’s popularity has spread more and more people have made the effort to study the game and a large number of players are aware that experienced players are prepared to put in a blind stealing raise from late position. This has lead a greater number of players to defend there blinds and with a broader range of hands. There is a time and a place for blind stealing, late position is definitely the place, I will leave it up to you too figure out the time.
In the blinds (small and big blind) you are already partly committed to the pot, this does not mean you have to play the hand. The thing to remember is that you may have ‘position’ on the table pre-flop whereas post-flop you will be ‘out of position’ so first to act. As we know poker is a game of decisions, and the more information you have to make your decision the better that decision is likely to be. Therefore the last player to act has an advantage over other players contesting the pot. Inexperienced players often lose a lot of chips from the blind positions, it is a good policy to treat chips you are forced to commit to the pot in blinds as communal chips. Once these chips are in the pot everybody has as much of a claim to the chips as you do. It is also worth remembering that in Hold’em poker your hand will connect with the flop a very small amount of the time, being first to act with no hand to play is going to cost you a lot of money in the long term.
Being out of position is not always a negative situation; I have been using to great affect recently a strategy of playing ‘counter position’ against certain opponents. Making counter position plays has to be done in the correct situations, execute the play when first to act by making a decent size bet, about half the size of the pot on low flops against no more than one or two weak-tight opponents who are unlikely to have connected with the board. Obviously this play works better when you are deep stacked and will not be committed by the bluff against opponents who are unable to get away from marginal hands.
Shorthanded Positional Play
Many top players like Tom Mcevoy believe that short handed cash games are more profitable than full ring games. Positional play in short handed games is even more important than at a full table, when you have position play it aggressively. The aggressive players will generally get rewarded more in short-handed games which tend to suit there looser styles. Stealing is a much more viable play on smaller tables purely and simply because less players means there is less likelihood of premium hands to oppose them. Stealing in short handed games is imperatives as the blinds come round much faster. In shorthanded situations you should be more liberal in the hands you choose to defend your blinds with or you will be blinded away quickly.
Blind Play
Some of the hardest decisions in poker are made when you are forced to play in the blinds. How you play blind situations will often determine whether you will be a profitable player or not. In cash games the blinds obviously stay the same and therefore should not be contested as readily as in tournament play, in tournaments you will need to be aware of your stack ratio to the blinds at every stage.
A lot of players make mistakes from the blinds and are throwing away a large number of chips unnecessarily. One of the most common mistakes new players make is calling raises in the blinds purely because they have chips committed to the pot. This does not mean you should surrender your blind to every raise but be aware of the position of the raiser and the standard of the hands they are there likely to be holding. In general it is usually better to re-raise with a marginal hand if you suspect you opponent of larceny than to call with a mediocre hand, large proportion of the time be prepared to surrender your blind and live to fight another day.
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[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptAs we know poker is a game of decisions, and the more information you have to make your decision the better that decision is likely to be. Therefore the last player to act has an advantage over other players contesting the pot. … [...]
Nice Article Hutch!!
[...] Talk to the author know. [...]
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThere is a massive amount of material available regarding position at the poker table, however many players just don’t understand the importance or even the concept of position itself. These players are giving up an edge on every hand … [...]
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThis is when you can put in a raise (when you are first to enter the pot) and the blinds will more than likely fold, this strategy will work on occasion but must be used carefully. As poker’s popularity has spread more and more people … [...]
Another aricle on positioning here http://www.thehendonmob.com/carl_sampson/a_study_in_position_in_no-limit_holdem