The importance of position…
Because Texas Holdem is a fixed position game, where you sit at the table offers you certain advantages over your opponents or disadvantages. Generally speaking, being “in position” means to act after the majority of players at your table, possibly after all of them. Being out of position means to be among the first to act.
The dealer button goes around the table in a clock-wise direction, and position is dependent on the dealer button. This means that wherever you sit, you’ll have your turn being in early position as well as in late position. You can secure an advantage over a given player though, by sitting down on his/her immediate left. That will mean that you’ll have to act after him/her the majority of the time.
As you probably know, the worst position to be in is the UTG (Under The Gun) because the poker player sitting there will be the first to act in the preflop betting round. The best possible position is in the button, because the button is the last to act on pretty much every street. The cut-off (the position on the immediate right of the button), is not a bad position to be in either, as it has the power to mess up the button’s blinds-stealing plans, in case the other players fold around or call.
Here are some of the advantages that being in late position offers you:
- You’ll gain plenty of information on your opponents without having to pay for it, and you’ll be able to make your reads before it’s your turn to act.
- The bluffing opportunities that being in late position offers you are quite endless. You’ll be able to pull off some pretty cheeky bluffs without getting caught and thus you’ll make a lot of free money in late position.
- You’ll also be able to gauge the size of your value bets more accurately, and thus you won’t end up losing money on account of making the incorrect size raise.
- Most importantly: being in position will allow you to control the size of the pot. In layman terms: you’ll be able to keep the pot small when you’re pushing a weak drawing hand and you’ll be able to build the pot if you have a monster.
Knowing how to use position to your advantage at the poker table is like rakeback: it is among the most elementary ways to secure a lasting edge.
Signing up for a deal (or maybe even for a poker prop deal) like the full tilt rakeback or the ongame rakeback is like money in the bank: if you play, it’ll guarantee you an additional revenue-stream.
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