Poker Lesson 3: Position

The previous lesson listed what starting hands to play. This lesson will focus on one of the most important factors when deciding when and how to play – position. To have a good understanding of the concept of position is essential in No Limit since it is a game of incomplete information. The later our position, the more information we have available before making our decision, making it a more well-informed one. This is important throughout the whole hand, and although this lesson is centered around preflop play, the concepts can easily be applied to play on the latter streets.

So, what is this position thing that we are ranting about?

Look at this picture:

A picture may say more than a thousand words, but a picture without an explanation will probably say a thousand words of gibberish, so an explanation is definitely in it’s place. As we see, there are three categories of position mentioned – Early (EP), Middle (MP) and Late Position (LP). Some positions have individual names, for example, the first player to act preflop is said to sit in the “Under the Gun” (UTG) seat. This is just common poker lingo. We also notice The Button (the player to the right of the small blind) and Cutoff (the player to the right of the button). The blinds are not included, this is because they do not really fit in to any of the categories, since the players in the blinds get to act last preflop, but first on any subsequent streets. We will go into more detail on playing from the blinds later on.

The players in late position will, when it is their turn to act, have the novelty of knowing the other players actions before making their decision. This allows for a better informed decision. The players in the early positions do not know anything about their opponents hands, making their decision is harder and the risk of someone else finding a monster hand bigger.

As you surely remember, in the last lesson I talked about hand categories that are playable preflop. These were high pocket pairs, big cards, medium pocket pairs, suited connectors and low pocket pairs. For one of the categories, position does not affect our preflop strategy. It is, of course, the big pairs. We would raise with them preflop from any position, and re-raise if someone else has raised before us.

Many new players make a mistake when raising by either betting too much or too little. It is not uncommon to see players make the minimum raise, or make a huge overbet. A good rule of thumb is to bet three times the amount of the big blinds, and add another big blind for each player that has called. For example, if the big blind is 2, our standard raise should be to 6. If two players have called before us, we should make it 10 total. This is a balanced raise amount and it should be our standard raise. If someone else has raised before us, let’s say to 6, our re-raise should be around three times the amount that he bet. In this example we should re-raise to 18, should we want to re-raise.

So, high pocket pairs are easy to play. But what about the rest of the starting hands?

Big cards like AQ and AK are often raise-worthy even in early position. We should raise AK from any position if there is no raise in front of us, AQ from most positions, although we might want to limp it occasionally when in EP. With AK, we should re-raise preflop most of the times there is a raise in front of us and we have position on the initial raiser. With AQ it is probably best to just call. If we are, for example, in the blinds and there is a raise to us, we can play AK conservatively by just calling. Given we are out of position, there is no great need to build a huge pot preflop when we need our hand to improve on the flop.

A hand like AJ is much more troublesome. If we are in EP, our best bet is probably to fold AJ. When first in the pot from MP and later positions, we should however raise it. This might seem odd at first, but AJ is a typical trouble hand from early position, which is why we might just as well fold it.

Let us explain. Assume that we are UTG with AJ. There are nine players still to act after us. We are likely to get called from other players in better positions, and we will have trouble knowing if our hand is this best, even if we flop a pair. We will be forced to shoot in the dark after the flop because of our early position. If we flop an Ace, we will make little or no money when ahead (because the other players will fold worse hands), but we risk losing a large portion of our own stack (when we are beat) becuase it is hard to get away from AJ if we make top pair.

But this changes a bit when in MP or LP. If there is a raise in front of us, we can safely fold. AJ is not a good hand against a raise, period. However, should we be first in late position, there is a bigger chance that our hand is best. By raising we can get other players to fold marginal holdings, and we take command of the pot. Add the fact that we probably will be in position, giving us much more information when our turn to act on the flop, and AJ becomes playable. And should we miss the flop, there is the option of bluffing should the circumstances be right. If an Ace flops and there is substantial action, reconsider folding.

Let us move on to the low pocket pairs (22-66). These hands we play only for set value, we want to make three of a kind with them and win a big pot. Generally, we should just call preflop. If there is a raise in front of us, we should also call. However, if there is a raise and a re-raise, or an abnormally large preflop raise when we are to act, we should fold. A pocket pair improves to three of a kind roughly a ninth of the time, which makes it wrong to call raises that are 7-8% or more of our stack. We should raise these small pairs only when all others have folded to us and we are on the CO or Button. Then a raise is in order, because we often will win the blinds uncontested, and if called most of the time pick up the pot on the flop with a continuation bet. However, this is the only time when raising is in order preflop.

The medium pocket pairs (77-TT) are trickier to play. We should consider raising with them in LP, at least if there are not more than two players having called before us, but calling is the safer play. In EP and MP, we might as well just call preflop, even if first in. When in LP and first in, a raise is in order. Do keep in mind that also these pairs are hands that are mainly played for set value, be very careful when having an overpair to the board on a low flop. A pair of eights unimproved will rarely be the best hand at showdown.

And then there is only one category left – the suited connectors. When in early position, fold the low ones. There is no real value in playing a hand like 43 or 32 in poor position. In middle position, I’d still advocate folding the lowest ones, but the rest are worthy of a call. In late position, all suited connectors are hands we can call with. Medium suited connectors (like 87) and high suited connectors (like JT) are worthy of a call regardless of position. The high ones (JT and above) are worthy of a raise when in late position, employing the same rationale as when raising a medium pocket pair from LP.

Suited connectors are played in order to make two pair or better, or to flop a good draw. They are hands that need improvement postflop, which often makes them easy to play after the flop. Suited connectors are also good in multiway pots, because of their potential to make a straight or a flush. Before the flop, it is of uttermost importance to keep in mind that we will get a good flop for our connectors only around 10 percent of the time, meaning that we never should call a bet larger than 10% of our stack.

So, there is only one thing left to discuss then – play from the blinds. First, I would like to point out that all players, even professionals, lose money when playing out of the blinds. There is no going around the fact that being in the blinds means that we incur long-term losses. When in the blinds, we are forced to put money in the pot without looking at our cards first, putting us at great disadvantage.

Furthermore, what might seem as an advantage when being in the blinds – getting to act last preflop – is actually no advantage at all, since we act first on all subsequent streets. We will be at a positional disadvantage the entire hand, forcing us to guess and gamble, whilst our opponents will have all the information they need to make a better decision.

This is why a beginner should play very tight from the blinds. Pocket pairs are playable, as well as the higher suited connectors and AK, but the rest should be folded. Pocket pairs JJ and below and high suited connectors should be folded on the flop if we do not make three of a kind, two pair or better. Blind play is difficult and all about loss minimization, instead of profit maximization, so therefore: tighten up!