Position and Its Effects

Sitting Down

When you first sit down at a poker table there are many things you may see staring across from you; a poker veteran shuffling his chips and smoking a cigar, a skinny player with glasses who looks like he may not have left his laptop for months due to playing internet poker, a rich businessman who has money to give away, or if you’re lucky the hot waitress you have been tipping big all week!

Positions

There are three types of position during a hand, Early middle and late. These positions are determined by your position according to the button (Dealer) If you are closer to the right of the button then you are considered to be in a late position. If you are towards the left of the button nearer the blinds then you are in early position. The Optimal Position being the Button as you get to see all players before you act before you make a decision. However any type of position can be used to your advantage.

Generally table position factors into this too. This usually means you want the tight players on your left and the loose players on your right. If this is not the case, you may have to alter you game accordingly.

Most of the time though this should not come into play unless you have just joined the table or there has been new players added to the table. The rest of the time we are only concerned with our position in accordance with the button.

Poker is such a positional game that some people swear by it. They don’t play a hand unless they are in position. Others use it but more subtly and use all types of positions to their advantage. They use it cunningly with betting patterns to produce a rather deadly combination of aggression and skill.

Betting Patterns

Usually used with betting patterns. Position can be used to figure out a tell and change the whole dynamic of the game. When a player constantly raises from late position with mediocre hands then that is what we call a betting pattern. It is useful to players to determine the strength of a given opponents holdings.

Practical Applications

The following is an example of a good use of position. The player uses opponents perception of him to then lure his opponents in with a more mediocre hand.

You’re sitting at a 5/10 6 handed NL Hold’em game and the players are very observant. They are all around $1000 in chips including you. They have commented several times on you raising utg+1 with nothing. The action then comes round to you and you pick up KK in the utg+1 position. It is folded to you. Your average preflop raise from this position with nothing was around $40, you then decide to raise it up to that exact amount to lull your opponents into a false sense of security. Everyone folds to the button. You are then re-raised by the button (An instinct player who is not afraid to raise if he thinks he has the best of it) to $160.Its folded to you and you ponder for a moment and elect to call. The flop then came A K 7 rainbow. There is no way this could have hit your hand in his mind. You decide to check and he bets $240 into a pot of $335. You decide to raise him and put his read to the test. You then push your remaining $890 into the pot. He then goes into the tank and is hooked! He calls and flips over A 6. Your kings hold up and you win the pot.

Position and Errors

In this next example I am going to show you the wrong uses of position and how it shouldn’t be used.

You sit down at a 10/20 NL Hold’em 6 Handed game and decide to constantly raise from the button position. Your holdings vary from bad hands to good hands but you always do the exact same thing in that position. It is the optimal position right? This question can be answered the same way as every other question in poker. Sometimes. Anyway, you are on the button again this time with Kd3d and you again raise 4x the bb to $80. You get 4 callers and the flop comes A 8 K. It is checked t you and you then decide to make a continuation bet of $120 and are re-raised to $380 by your opponent in the small blind who is a very loose/tight player who only bets when he has a hand preflop. You elect to fold.

Looking back on that hand, there was not much that you did wrong in that hand if you weren’t raising liberally from that position previously. It was the previous hands from that position that made them call in that situation. If you had played differently in that position it might not have happened. It just goes to show you that you always consider your own position and betting pattern before making any moves from position or it can be deemed a bad play.

Experience

Position is a beautiful thing in the game of poker if used correctly and moderately but when you overuse it then that’s when it tends to become a problem.

Finding your right formula is the key to playing position well. If you are playing your position comfortably then you have probably found that formula.

Keep playing that way and you will be on the road to being a great player in no time.