Playing Position in No Limit Texas Hold'Em Poker
Everyone who plays poker is aware of the position. Whether or not you have good or bad position depends on where you are sitting in relation to the dealer. If you are first to play, you have the worst position. If you are the last to play, you have the best position. Why? Because as the last player to play, you have the most information with which to act on, having already seen what everyone else is going to do in the hand. If you play first, you have the least information, therefore you are at a disadvantage. What I think a lot of players forget about playing position is, that position becomes more and more important on every street.
What I mean is this: many players will try to steal blinds/antes from the button. That is fine, but it is an obivious steal attempt. What can be more important is that you still have the best position after the flop and on the turn and river. You will always be last to act in the hand. So, if you can read your opponent to any degree of certainty, you can act accordingly.
Lets say you have 9-5 on the button and raise 3x the BB in an attempt to steal. Many time you will get a call simply because you made a blatant steal attempt. The flop comes K-T-4, now what do you do if he bets the pot? You have to fold!
But, sometimes, just calling pre-flop because you know you will still have position later on in the hand is a better play. In the same situation, you are much more likely to get a check after the flop from your opponent, allowing you to make a bet with your position. Further, even if he is calling you down because he thinks you are making a position play, he is unlikely to do it again on the turn if he doesn't hit anything. If he does, give him credit, and get out of the hand, but taking this more passive stance knowing that you can use your position on any subsequent street will sometimes get better results that the big pre-flop raise that is an obvious attempt to get everyone to flop.
More on position play tomorrow, as it is one of the most important aspects of poker and often, one of the most overlooked. Position can many times be more important than the cards in your hand.
Everyone who plays poker is aware of the position. Whether or not you have good or bad position depends on where you are sitting in relation to the dealer. If you are first to play, you have the worst position. If you are the last to play, you have the best position. Why? Because as the last player to play, you have the most information with which to act on, having already seen what everyone else is going to do in the hand. If you play first, you have the least information, therefore you are at a disadvantage. What I think a lot of players forget about playing position is, that position becomes more and more important on every street.
What I mean is this: many players will try to steal blinds/antes from the button. That is fine, but it is an obivious steal attempt. What can be more important is that you still have the best position after the flop and on the turn and river. You will always be last to act in the hand. So, if you can read your opponent to any degree of certainty, you can act accordingly.
Lets say you have 9-5 on the button and raise 3x the BB in an attempt to steal. Many time you will get a call simply because you made a blatant steal attempt. The flop comes K-T-4, now what do you do if he bets the pot? You have to fold!
But, sometimes, just calling pre-flop because you know you will still have position later on in the hand is a better play. In the same situation, you are much more likely to get a check after the flop from your opponent, allowing you to make a bet with your position. Further, even if he is calling you down because he thinks you are making a position play, he is unlikely to do it again on the turn if he doesn't hit anything. If he does, give him credit, and get out of the hand, but taking this more passive stance knowing that you can use your position on any subsequent street will sometimes get better results that the big pre-flop raise that is an obvious attempt to get everyone to flop.
More on position play tomorrow, as it is one of the most important aspects of poker and often, one of the most overlooked. Position can many times be more important than the cards in your hand.
