Position in poker refers to the order in which players are seated around the table and the related poker strategy implications. Players who act first are in 'early position'; players who act later are in 'late position'; players who act in between are in 'middle position'.[1] A player 'has position' on opponents acting before him and is 'out of position' to opponents acting after him.[2] Because players act in clockwise order, a player 'has position' on opponents seated to his right, except when the opponent has the button and certain cases in the first betting round of games with blinds.
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Position in Texas hold 'em[edit]
A standard Texas hold 'em game with blinds
The primary advantage held by a player in late position is that he will have more information with which to make better decisions than players in early position, who will have to act first, without the benefit of this extra information. This advantage has led to many players in heads-up play raising on the button with an extremely wide range of hands because of this positional advantage.[3] Also, as earlier opponents fold, the probability of a hand being the best goes up as the number of opponents goes down.
Texas Holdem Rules
The blinds are the least desirable position because a player is forced to contribute to the pot and they must act first on all betting rounds after the flop. Although the big blind has a big advantage on the first round of betting, it is on average the biggest money losing position.[citation needed]
Texas hold 'em example[edit]
There are 10 players playing $4/$8 fixed limit. Alice pays the $2 small blind. Bob pays the $4 big blind. Carol is under the gun (first to act). If Carol has a hand like K♥ J♠, she may choose to fold. With 9 opponents remaining to act, there is approximately a 40% chance that at least one of them will have a better hand than Carol's like A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, A-K, A-Q, A-J or K-Q. And even if no one does, seven of them (all but the two players in the blind) will have position on Carol in the next three betting rounds.
Now instead, suppose David in the cut-off position (to the right of the button) has the same K♥ J♠ and all players fold to him. In this situation, there are only three opponents left to act, so the odds that one of them has a better hand are considerably less (only around 16%). Secondly, two of those three (Alice and Bob) will be out of position to David on later betting rounds. A common play would be for David to raise and hope that the button (the only player who has position on David) folds. David's raise might simply steal the blinds if they don't have playable hands, but if they do play, David will be in good shape to take advantage of his position in later betting rounds.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'Poker Tables'. Carbon Poker. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
- ^'Poker Position'. CardsChat. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
- ^Badger, Steve. 'Changing Position in Poker'. Steve Badger Poker Strategy. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Position_(poker)&oldid=860170174'
When you’re seated directly to the left of the big blind, you’re in the position called under the gun (UTG). Preflop, you’re the first player to act. Postflop, you’ve got position on two players–the small and big blinds–and the rest of your opponents have position on you.
Under the gun isn’t the best position to play from, but it’s not the worst. An ideal UTG strategy will lean heavily towards value plays and will avoid speculative bluffs. Stick to a tight opening range and continue postflop only if you’ve got a legit hand.
The key to staying profitable under the gun is streamlining your preflop hand selection.
Under the Gun Preflop Range
Your preflop range should be very tight when under the gun. Play hands that you know have value and only carry on postflop when you’re likely ahead. A solid preflop range looks something like this:
- 22+
- Suited broadway cards (e.g. AKs, QJs, KQs)
- 89s+ (shorthanded games only)
- AJo+
- KQo
While it’s fine to include suited connectors 89+ in your UTG range, you shouldn’t overdo them. When playing 89s from the button you don’t necessarily need to hit the flop to take down a pot; under the gun you usually will. Since you’re out of position when under the gun, you don’t have the luxury of seeing your opponents act before you; therefore you’ve got less room to get bluffy and take shots at the pot.
Keep in mind when you make top pair type hands from UTG, it can be difficult to tell where you stand. For example, imagine you raise from UTG with ATo. Everyone folds to the button, who calls, and the blinds fold.
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The flop comes A-4-5 rainbow. You place a strong bet on the flop and the button flat calls. A King comes on the turn and you elect to check for pot control. As soon as you check, the button blasts you with a full pot-sized bet. Is this a bet from a legitimate hand or is he simply betting because you checked?
If you’re playing at a $5 roulette table, the maximum bet is probably $500 or $1000. How to win the most money at roulette. You’ve already lost $1275 by this point in your betting progression.If you do win this $1280 bet, you’ll only be up $5, which means you’re making a large wager for a very small return.The other problem is that even if you do have a sufficient bankroll to cover this kind of progression, all casinos have maximum bets.
It’s hard to say. You’re beat by all aces with better kickers, which is a significant portion of your opponent’s range (AK, AQ, AJ are all likely holdings.) A thinking opponent will have deduced that you’re raising with the top of your range preflop, since you’re in the worst position at the table; thus you should expect your opponent’s range to be strong as well.
Of course, you don’t want to throw away top pair–at least instinctively you don’t. Thus you’re faced with a difficult choice: ditch your pair, or stick around with what’s possibly the second best hand.
The above example illustrates the importance of keeping your range tight. Since you’re out of position, you won’t really be able to gauge where your opponents are at before acting. When under the gun, your advantage in a hand will come largely from the value of your cards. Save the loose play for late position.
Aggressive Play Under the Gun
A key to playing profitably under the gun is to be aggressive with your high ranking hands. When you’ve got good cards that tend to dominate preflop, you want to get your money in as quickly as possible.
Here’s a common scenario. A player is dealt QQ under the gun and limps in rather than open raising. His logic is this: QQ is a great hand, therefore I should slowplay to give everyone a chance to put money in the pot. That’s a nice thought, but here’s the thing: it’s faulty logic.
A hand like QQ is a massive favorite over almost all other hands preflop. When your hand is a massive favorite, you want to get your money in. If the players ahead of you have decent hands, they will call an open-raise; after all, they think they’ve got the nuts too. Therefore by neglecting to raise your QQ preflop, you’re saying: “I hate money, I don’t want to build the pot to as big an amount as I can. I’ll settle for less.”
Of course poker is all about maximizing our expected value, and making a play that is less profitable compared to another possible play is a bad move. When under the gun, it is almost always more profitable to raise than to call.
The only time you might want to restrain your aggression is when holding small pocket pairs. A hand like 22 or 33 isn’t really valuable in itself. Both hands play best for set value, meaning you will toss them if you don’t hit on the flop. Since that gives you less equity overall, it’s a good idea to tone down the preflop pot-building with small pocket pairs when UTG.
However, I do not recommend open-limping with small pocket pairs. The only time you can get away with that move is when you are in extremely passive games. If you’re in an average game, you should either raise with it (shorthanded games only) or fold it. Open limping is a transparent play and it makes it so that you can only win the pot if you hit something.
Be Flexible When Under the Gun
Keep in mind that how you play should change depending on the conditions of whatever game you’re in. For example, if you’re up against a bunch of nitty players who only enter pots with strong hands, loosen up; you’ll be able to take down some pots with marginal hands, even without position.
On the other hand if you’re up against loose-aggressive types, you’ll have to play an all-or-nothing game. You can’t come in with weak limps because the loose-aggressive players will blow you out of the water. You have to either come in strong against these players or come in not at all.