Most new poker players have a tough time understanding the importance of position. Even if they get that acting later is an advantage, they tend to underestimate just how big that advantage is. So why is position so important in a game like hold’em?
First, let’s make sure everyone understands exactly what we mean by position. In poker, position refers to where you are sitting in relation to the dealer button. In hold’em, the last person to act each round is said to be “on the button.” The next player or two to the right of the button are in late position; the players before them are in middle position, and the players just to the left of the blinds are in early position. The very first person to act is considered to be “under the gun,” as they have to act first preflop. The players in the blinds act last on the first betting round (since they were forced to put money into the pot before the hand began), but beginning on the flop, they will be the first players to act.
One of the most fascinating aspects about poker is that it is a game of limited information. Unlike a game like chess, where everyone playing can see all of the pieces on the board, information is hard to come by in poker. But when we’re in late position, we get to see everyone else act before us. This gives us a huge advantage, because while the other players are flying blind, we know exactly what everyone else has done before we make any decisions! If a player has raised, that might save us from playing a marginal hand. If everyone folds, we can raise and try to win the blinds right away. If a few players have limped in without raising, we might be able to play almost any two cards, knowing that we’re getting excellent pot odds and will retain the advantage of late position after the flop.
Contrast this to how we have to play when we’re in early position. Here, we know nothing about the kinds of hands our opponents might hold. We have to be very careful; we can’t afford to play mediocre hands, because if someone raises behind us (and they often will!), we will be forced to either fold or call with a hand that is likely far behind. We are forced to play tighter simply because we have many players to worry about acting behind us who may have strong hands of their own.
These advantages are even greater after the flop. Players in late position have much more control over the pot than those in early position, because they will usually have a chance to close out the action. Imagine a heads up situation between two players where the first player holds a strong hand. The player who acts first is at a distinct disadvantage, because the second player can always decide if he wants to play a large pot or a small one. If the first player bets, the second player can fold if he has a weak hand, raise if he has a strong one, or even call if he just wants to see another card. The first player could try checking to induce a bet, but then the second player may simply check through to get a free card. No matter what the first player chooses to do, it’s the player in late position who has all the options. However, it’s worth noting that there is one advantage that goes to the first player to act: they get the first chance to bluff.
The upshot of all of this is that we can afford to play a lot more hands in late position than we do in early position. From late position, marginal hands are playable if nobody has raised, both because we know that nobody has shown strength yet and because we know we’ll have significant control over the post-flop action. If we hit our hand, we can play a big pot; if we don’t, we’re in good position to bluff if we see weakness, or to take free cards if we have a draw.
Keep this in mind when you play hold’em, and you’ll see your results improve significantly. By playing tightly in early position but playing a wider variety of hands in late position, we make sure that we’re playing more often when we have the advantage of acting last – and when we’re not, we have a strong enough hand to justify playing out of position.
