Position at poker table is a significantly underestimated factor by many novice poker players. Your position at the poker table may (and will) have a significant impact on your wins/losses with the same starting hand. How well will you use this factor in your game will determine how profitable your poker sessions will be.

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Before starting to play with any starting hand in Texas Holdem, you should always be aware of your position relative to the dealer (dealer’s position oftentimes called “button”). Below you can find basic poker table position names:

• Closest positions immediately to the left of the button are called early positions (abbreviated as EP).
• Closest positions immediately to the right of the button are called late positions (abbreviated as LP).
• Positions in between the early and late positions are called middle positions (abbreviated as MP).

A graphical representation of the positions at the poker table for the full tables (9-max, Full ring)

• Positions colored in red are early positions. At the full tables (usually this tables are used for poker tournaments) there are three early positions. In poker terminology they are commonly called UTG (an abbreviation from Under the Gun). Individually they are classified as UTG-1 (early position at the poker table that is closest to blinds), UTG-2 (early position following the position of UTG-1) and UTG-3 (position following the UTG-2);
• Positions colored in blue are middle positions. At the full tables there are three middle positions. They are called MP-1, MP-2, MP-3 and are arranged in the same order one after another. The common name for all middle positions is MP;
• Positions colored in green are late positions. These are the best positions to play at the poker tables. There are only 2 (two) late positions in the game and they have different names. The first late position is cut-off (CO) (this is a position located immediately after the middle positions). The last late position is the position of dealer (BTN - button);
• Positions colored in yellow are the blinds (small blind and big blind). These are one the worst positions at the poker table.

A graphical representation of the positions at the poker table for the short tables (6-max, Shorthaned)

• Positions colored in red are early positions. At the short tables (6-max) there is only one such position called UTG;
• Positions colored in blue are middle positions. There is also only one middle position at the short tables. It is called MP;
• Positions colored in green are late positions. There are two late positions at the 6-max tables. They are called dealers positions and cut-off;
• Positions colored in yellow are blinds. There are two blinds positions at the short tables. These positions are called small blind and big blind;

You will win a lot more money in late positions in poker, than in early ones. Button (dealer’s position) - is the most profitable position at the poker table.

Explanation of position abbreviations (UTG, MP, BTN, etc.)

UTG (abbreviation from Under The Gun). This is the name for early positions in poker. UTG position is a seat to the left of big blind. A player sitting on the UTG position is the first to act on preflop.

MP - a term used to define middle positions at the poker tables, i.e. positions in between the early and late positions. At the 6-max tables this is a position to the left of UTG.

CO (abbreviation from CutOff) - a position exactly before the dealer’s seat. This position is considered the second strongest position after the dealer.

BTN (abbreviation from Button) - the strongest position at the poker tables. A player sitting at this position will act last in every betting round.

SB (abbreviation from Small Blind). A player sitting on this position will act penultimate at preflop and first at all the other betting rounds during a hand.

BB (abbreviation from Big Blind). This is a position of a player sitting exactly after the small blind. The player sitting on the big blind will act last at the preflop and second in all the other betting rounds during the hand.

You should grasp the basic idea of playing on the blinds, which is that you will act last only on preflop. In all the other remaining betting rounds you will act first, which you should avoid.

Positions at the poker table

Early positions at the poker table

Positions colored in red (look at the pictures above) are early positions. These positions are considered less preferred for the game, because sitting on one of the early positions you will, most likely, act first postflop. That means that in early position you will have to be more selective to your starting hands, as you will have less information about the hand strength of your opponents (because you will act before them). Thus, in early positions you will need to pay more attention to your starting cards.

Middle positions at the poker table

Positions colored in blue are middle positions. Players sitting in the middle positions possess a “positional advantage” over players sitting in early positions. At the same time players sitting in late positions have a “positional advantage” over players sitting in middle positions.

That means, that you will be able to play with a little more starting hands on this positions (i.e. on middle and late positions), because less opponents will be acting after you. However, if all opponents on early positions will fold their cards, this will mean that you will act first in every following betting round. So keep this in mind when you will make a decision to play or not to play with that or another starting hand.

Late positions at the poker table

Positions colored in green are late positions. In fact, these are the best seats at the poker table. When you are in the late position, there is a high chance that you will act last in every betting round. In these positions you can play with a wide range of starting hands. But that doesn’t mean that you will need to play with the weakest hands, such as .

Dealer’s position (Button)

Dealer’s position is the best position at the poker table to play your pocket cards from, because sitting in this position you will always (excluding preflop) act last in every betting round. That’s why you should try to play the biggest amount of your hands from the dealer’s position, because you will have a positional advantage over your opponents, and position in poker is everything!

Cut-off

What is the cutoff position in poker?

Cut-off is a position exactly before the dealer’s position. Cut-off is the second best position at the poker table to play your starting hands from after the dealer’s position, because if an opponent on the button will decide not to participate in a hand, you will act the last in all betting rounds. Cut-off and button are the perfect positions for stealing the blinds, because not a lot of opponents will act after you, and the chance they will have a good enough hand to call your bet will be low.

Blinds

Small blind

Small blind is the worst position in poker, because sitting in that position you will act first in all the betting rounds excluding preflop (on the preflop small blind is acting penultimate). The key moment for playing from that position is the strength of your hand. You should play only your strongest hands from that position.

Big blind

Big blind is a position right after the small blind. This position is also one of the worst for playing your pocket cards from.

The advantage of position in poker

If you are in position to your opponents, you will have a few significant advantages:

• You will be able to play more starting hands on preflop
• You will be able to steal blinds
• You will be able to use pot-control
• You will save money, because you will possess information about your opponents actions on all streets and make your decisions based on the information you have. At the same time, out of position players will act blindly
• You will possess information about the amount of active players in hand, their types, as well as their action on all streets
• You will be able to evaluate the relative strength of your hand
• You will be able to win money on flop if an opponent/opponents will play check before you, showing you their weakness
• It’s much easier to bluff for players in the late positions

Statement: The positions is very important in poker

There’s no doubt. Let’s take a look at one example that shows the importance of position in poker. Let’s say we have on preflop:

In early position. It’s better to get rid of that hand because you don’t have any information about how your opponents will act, who are sitting in a later positions. Maybe you will have a chance to see the flop, but even in that case you will act first in the next betting rounds and you will have no clue what to do on such a board as .

In late position. You can decide either to play this hand or not based on your opponents actions in the earlier positions. If all players will fold their cards you’ll be able to make a raise and take the blinds. However, if your opponents were active on the preflop (made a raise, for instance), you will be able to get rid of your hand easily, without losing a penny.

Statement: It’s harder to bluff an opponent sitting in position towards us

And that’s absolutely true. It’s much harder to bluff out the opponent sitting in position towards us. Let’s take a look at an example:

6 max table. You are sitting on a dealer’s position with . Player on a middle position (MP) makes a raise and you decide to call. All other players fold their cards. The flop is . An opponent makes a continuation bet and you call. The turn card is dealt and now the board looks like . Now your opponent has a tough task to solve, because if he doesn’t have a good made hand (top pair or better), than he can only win this hand by bluffing. But he doesn’t know anything about the strength of your hand, since you can easily have in your hand and you will not fold it. So if he will continue to play aggressively, he will lose money. You have an advantage over your opponent: you are sitting in position towards him and acting last. Now if your opponent will decide to make a bet, you can assume that he has a strong hand and will easily get rid of your cards, and if your opponent will check you can make a bet yourself and take the pot.

How to use position at the poker table

If Player A makes his decisions at the poker table after Player B in every given hand, that means that Player A has a positional advantage over Player B. Simply said - Player A sits in position to Player B.

When in position, you can use information, obtained by watching your opponents actions before you: what actions did they performed, or what size of bets do they make - that’s what your decision will be based on. For example if you sitting in position to opponent and he makes a check that would more often mean his weakness. Thus, you will be able to use this information and make a bet, forcing an opponent to fold his cards.

The basic rule of positional play: At the poker tables, with all other things being equal, you will have an advantage over opponents sitting to the right from you (because you will be acting after them). At the same time, all players sitting to the left of you will have an advantage over you (because they will be acting after you). Hence the conclusion: the best positions to play your cards from are the late ones, because you will act last on postflop.

Positional awareness

You should try to play more hands in position than without it.

However, this statement does not mean that you will have to play every hand in a good position, or fold good hands sitting out of position just to balance things. In reality that means though, that you will have to be more inclined to play weaker hands in position, and fold the same hands (or even stronger ones), when you are out of position.

Let’s take a look at an example of playing KJo from different positions.

You should be playing this hand very carefully from an early position. This is one of the worst hands still falling into category of “good hands” and if you’re sitting out of position makes playing with this hand quite undesirable. This hand is not strong enough to neutralize the negative effect of your position.

In late position you can regularly make open raises with such a hand (if there was no raises before you). If you’re in a position to your opponents, you are also able to call their raises. This is a good situation, because besides the vantage position you have a decent starting hand.

It’s quite difficult to understand for beginners how the same hand can be played in late position, but can not be played in early. How can you learn how to define which hand can be played, and from what position?

As they say “The appetite comes with the game”. This saying can also be used in our situation - you will need time to get an understanding, but the more you will play, the more experienced you will become, and you will have more understanding of the game and the opportunities to play with each starting hand from different position. But if you only started to play poker, you are advised to get into the hand only with premium cards not depending on a specific position at the poker table. And that would be considered absolutely normal, as you would need a playing experience to get a full understanding of playing process. Just be patient and ready to widen your range based on your position, in the process of sharpening your playing skills.

Advice. Constantly be aware of your position. In the early positions a good hand can become vulnerable, and you would be required to play it with caution.

A graph, showing an understanding of positional play

Below you can see an image showing all before mentioned - you should play more hands in position. This graph shows a VPIP of a winning player depending on a position in a 6-max games.

Texas Holdem Position Names

VPIP shows a percentage of voluntary put money into the pot (when he either raised or called raises preflop). In fact, this graph displays a % of played hands in each position.

Please note, that given player plays a lot more hands from late position if compared with early ones. He’s not playing same hands from all positions. He is not playing for a sake of good stats in Hold’em Manager, but tries to make good decisions in-game instead, based on his position at the table.

Conclusions about the positions at the poker tables

Position at the poker tables is one of the most underestimated factors among the beginners. The position determines the profitability of one or another starting hand. In position you can extract profit from almost any hand if you have sufficient playing experience.

The sooner you will start to pay attention to your position at the poker tables, the sooner you will start to win money.

You can also read our articles “Choosing your starting hands” and “Relative position in No-Limit Texas Hold’em”

Back to the Basics of No-Limit Texas Hold’em section.

Some material were taken from thepokerbank.

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If you watch a lot of poker on television, you've probably noticed how most no-limit hold'em hands are contested heads-up after the flop. A player opens with a raise, another calls, then it's just the two of them battling for the pot thereafter.

The same is true if you happen to rail online poker games involving better poker players, such as the big weekly tournaments and Sunday majors. Unlike perhaps is the case in many home games and also lower-limit live games, there's often going to be just two players left by the time the community cards arrive.

In heads-up situations, it's obvious enough to point out that one player will be 'in position' postflop and get to act last on all streets while the other will be 'out of position' and have to act first. If you weren't paying attention, you might assume players spend about half their hands playing from out of position and half playing in position — but that would be wrong.

The truth is, most good players play the majority of their hands in position — by a lot, in fact. That's because when it comes to starting hand selection, good players tend to fold more hands when they would be forced to play from out of position and to get involved more frequently when they can have position. They do so because they know there are many advantages to having position on an opponent after the flop.

Position in poker

The seats around a no-limit hold'em table are usually described as being either early position, middle position, or late position, with the location of the button and blinds determining each.

'Early position' (EP) usually refers to the players having to post both the small blind (SB) and big blind (BB), as well as the player sitting to the big blind's left in the position often called 'under the gun' or 'UTG.' At a nine- or ten-handed table, the next seat (UTG+1) might also be considered early position, given that most of the table is in later positions, relatively speaking.

Note by the way that even though the SB and BB act last preflop — after the UTG player and everyone else around to the button — those are considered early position seats since they'll be acting first every betting round after the flop.

'Middle position' (MP) usually refers to the next couple or three seats at the table, leading up to the last two or three seats culminating with the button.

Texas Holdem Table Positions

That leaves 'late position' (LP) seats that include the button (the latest position), the cutoff (the seat to the right of the button), and the hijack seat (the seat to the right of the cutoff). Of course, in short-handed games (e.g., 6-max.) the hijack would probably be better designated middle position.

As noted, the best no-limit hold'em players generally choose to play most of their hands from late position, fewer from middle position, and least from early position. Not coincidentally, they also win most of their money playing from later position, with even the best hold'em players tending to be net losers when playing from early position.

Here's a quick list of five reasons why playing in position is preferable in no-limit hold'em:

1. More free cards

There are times when playing drawing hands when you'd rather not pay a price to get to the next postflop street. When you have position on your opponent, you have the opportunity to take a 'free card' if your opponent checks to you while you are on a draw, checking behind to see the next community card.

Say you decided to play suited connectors and have on a flop. Your opponent who has to act first decides to check. You could bet, but you can also check behind and take a 'free card' to see if you can complete your flush. If you were first to act, though, you have no assurance when you check that your opponent won't bet and make you pay to stick around in the hand.

2. Pot control

Acting last on every postflop street usually helps you control how big or small of a pot you end up playing. If you wish to play a small pot and an opponent checks, you can check behind, and if your opponent bets you can just call and close the action. If you want to play a bigger pot, you can bet or raise when the action is on you.

When out of position, you can't check and be sure your opponent will check and let you see the next card for free. Nor can you bet and be sure your opponent will fold or only call you (thus keeping the pot small).

3. More bluffing opportunities

Having position on an opponent is so valuable, it can often make up for having a relatively weak hand. In other words, your literal hand strength may be weak, but by getting to act last you have a lot more leverage when trying to represent stronger hands. That translates into more chances to bluff when your opponent who is out of position demonstrates weakness by checking to you.

You raise from the button and get called by the big blind, the flop comes , and your opponent checks. If you bet and your opponent doesn't have an ace or king (or perhaps a six), you'll likely earn a fold, thereby making your actual hand strength somewhat irrelevant. You could have , , or , it doesn't matter — position won you the hand, not the cards.

4. Calculating pot odds

Say you are in a four-way hand holding , the flop comes , and you are second to act. There is 1,500 in the middle and the first player leads with a bet of 500. With your open-ended straight draw you'd like to call and see the turn. If you were last to act, you'd know for certain what your immediate pot odds were — you're trying to win 2,000 and need only call 500, so your pot odds are 4-to-1. (See '10 Hold'em Tips: Pot Odds Basics.')

But with players still to act behind you, you can't make this calculation. You don't know if the other two players will just call also (making your pot odds even better), or if one might raise and force you to pay even more to stick around (making your pot odds potentially much worse). If you were in position and acting last, though, you could know precisely what your pot odds were going forward.

5. Knowing your opponent's action

This is the biggest advantage to having position (and frankly covers all of the advantages listed above) — namely, being able to know how your opponent is going to play a given postflop street before you have to make your decision how to play it. You are more informed knowing that while your opponent can always be trying to deceive you, a check usually means they are not so enthused by the board while a bet indicates interest.

When playing from position, a lot of strong players use an opponent's action as a primary factor when deciding how to play each street.

Conclusion

The mere fact that the button moves each hand to ensure everyone at the table gets an equal opportunity to play from all the available positions should tell you that position matters in poker. If it didn't, there'd be no need to spread the positional wealth evenly in this way.

Playing from out of position can occasionally have advantages, too. From out of position you can check-raise, which as we've covered before in this series can be a powerful postflop play. Also, sometimes acting first enables you to prevent other players from acting, say in a multi-way pot where an early position bet or raise might force others out of a hand.

However, the advantages of playing in position are much greater. It's a big reason why the seating arrangement at a table can be so important — that is, it is much better not to have strong, difficult players on your left and in position on you for most hands than to have them sitting on your right where you get to have position on them most of the time.

Position is one of the most important factors affecting no-limit hold'em strategy. Playing with position on your opponents both reduces your risk and increases your chance at rewards. Help your own cause by playing more hands in position, and try not to help your opponents and play fewer from out of position.

Also in this series...

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