I decided to call today’s article “All About Position” for two reasons. Firstly, I hopefully want to teach you all about position but because Texas Hold’em as a game is all about position.
You may be staring at your computer screen wondering what the heck position is. Position refers to your place at the table in relation to the button and the blinds. After each hand, the deal passes around the table and the button and the blinds move too.
The best position to be in at the table is to be on the button. I like to refer to the button as my “home” in Hold’em as it is where you should be making the most money. It is the best position because before the flop only the blinds get to act after you and after the flop, you always get to act last. Acting last is great because you get the added information of seeing your opponents act before you and thus can adjust your play accordingly. If they check into you for example, you can use your positional advantage to act upon their weak play and pounce accordingly.
When you are in position, you are able to be a lot less selective in terms of the types of hands that you play. Because you get to act late before the flop, most players will have folded before you and you have only a few opponents to get through and if you do pick up callers, you can use your positional advantage after the flop to outplay them and exploit any weakness that they show. Conversley, in early position before the flop, we have to be a lot more selective in terms of the hands we elect tom play as the chances of someone behind us having a bigger hand or a real monster is increased simply because there are more players left to act.
Because of the innate advantage of acting after your opponents, you will want to play a gradually greater range of hands, the later position you sit in at the table and avoid playing too many hands in bad positions, especially the blinds. You may think you are getting a discount when you play from the blinds, but you face a tremendous positional disadvantage relative to the initial raiser.
Remember, the button and the cut-off (the seat to the button’s left) are the most profitable and are where you should make most of your money in Texas Hold’em
This article was written by meshuganater.
Tags: advice, Back to Basics, hold'em, poker strategy, position, tactics