Poker Strategy: The Importance of Playing Position!

Posted by The Marksman at 23 February, at 12 : 25 PM Print

Position is far more important than the hands you’re dealt, the players at your table, or the size of your stack is the position you have in the current hand. There are other factors that will help determine your success at the game but your position is at the top of the list.

Poker is a long term game, but position is a short term idea. To win in the long term, you need to make the correct plays over the short term. When you’re out of position, you’re often playing in the dark. Here’s an extreme hypothetical example to help give you a clear idea of why position is so important:

You are dealt a marginal hand like and being that you are relatively new to poker you think this is a big hand because you have two face cards.  You start to think how fun poker is especially when you are getting hands like this, so you go ahead and raise four times the big blind (isn’t that what Hellmuth would do?).  After you boldly throw your raise out there expecting to take the hand, three seats away from you some jackass you have never seen before re-raises your four times bet to eight times the big blind.  GASP!!  The nerve if this guy, now the next question you ask yourself is I wonder what he has?

Now take that same scenario and let’s switch a few things around, you have the same hand except this time the jackass has to act before you.  He raises to four times the big blind, and the player following him re-raises even more now the decision comes to you.  Does that hand you were so excited about when it was dealt to you look so good now?  With two big raises in front of you, players declaring they have big hands and are willing to put the money in to prove it, means that you will probably fold despite having two face cards.  Now depending on what type of player you are, folding may not be the play you want to make here, but the point is you can make a more informed decision because you are in position on those other two players.

The increased information we have allows us to make a more informed decision before we have to act. In a scenario like the one above, we can almost always assume that your is not the best hand.  To be clear, I’m not trying to say you should fold hands like King Jack from early position every single time, I’m just trying to impress upon you the value of position, and the disadvantage you have when you’re playing without it.  There will be perfectly good times to play that hand early especially if you are playing at a very tight table, but that is a lesson for another article.

When trying to decide what hands you should play or fold, such as , position should be the most important factor in your decision.  A simple rule of thumb: Regardless of the style you choose to play, if you’re in early position, only play premium hands.  A premium hand will most often lead to simple, easy choices while marginal hands often put you in tricky spots.  The last thing you want to do is put yourself in a difficult situation because you’re playing out of position. Don’t be a sucker, position or bust.

As you become a better poker player, you can deviate from this strategy somewhat.  This is generally considered good sound poker strategy, and only very good players with a high poker IQ can consistently play marginal hands from early position and still win.  Remember you aren’t Phil Ivey or Phil Hellmuth, play sound poker make a few moves here and there, but remember position should always be an important factor in your decisions.

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