Poker strategy articles, tips and tricks

6. August 2005

Position at the poker tables

Position in poker is very important but unfortunately very underestimated by beginner poker players. It is inevitable to keep in mind where you sit at a poker table in order to act wisely. And you know, poker is about decisions. We made an illustrated material for you to understand your position.

Understanding position in poker

Let’s see the image below:

Poker position at the poker tables

Click here to download the pdf document about positions in poker (contains the image above).

The dealer, small blind and big blind

The yellow button represents the dealer. He will act the last in the betting rounds. The first person to the left from the dealer posts the small blind. The second posts the big blind.

Early position

The first 3 seats to the left from the dealer are in early position. If you are in this position you have to act very carefully and play only strong hands. (An explanation about the starting hands will coming soon.) If you call in this position you could easily be raised later by the other players, so only call or raise when you have very strong hand.
If you posted big blind, and noone raised you can limp in with your hand to see the flop (because you have already put in your money at big blind, so seeing the flop can be seen as free).

Middle position

The next 3 positions are the middle positions. You can play here more than in early position, because you have already seen what some other players did. Altough you don’t have the full picture about your opponents, because you are only in middle position. If you have good hand you can limp in, but be cautious because others in late position can raise you.

Late position

It is the best position during a hand. You saw everyone’s acting so you can decide your actions more wisely. You have an approximate picture about what others have (or you can estimate, but don’t take your assumptions too serious, maybe one of them has stronger hand than yours, just not an aggressive player). In late position the very last player has the full picture about others. Players in late position can play wider hands not only the strongest ones.

Poker strategy vs. position

In general we can say that in early position you have to play tight and in late position you can play much loosey.

If you take into consideration where you sit you can greatly improve your game from the very beginning.

Click here to download the pdf document about positions in poker (contains the image above).

Good luck at the tables!

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Comments

  1. online poker · 12. October 2005 · #

    A bad poker strategy is to play too many hands. Most players play way too many hands. You will win more by folding more often. This sort of discipline is difficult for the recreational player. If you read the experts’ books, you’ll see how they preach patience and discipline, and you’ll be shocked by how many hands they say to throw away.

  2. LiveOnlinePoker · 14. October 2005 · #

    Thanks for the comment, I agree with you absolutely.
    For those who plays just for fun learning the “patience rule” could be the most difficult.
    We will publish an article soon about the starting hands and as the experience shows fold’em to win’em. :)

  3. Wooly Bench · 8. November 2005 · #

    I have been experimenting on a lot of strategies that I see on TV. I guess they bring out the aggressiveness in my game. I am not into playing with finesse. When playing poker, I like a gritty game. It has been three years since I learned how to play the game. Still, the idea of exploring the game has left me sitting every night in tables.

  4. LiveOnlinePoker · 21. November 2005 · #

    Yes, I think the same, you can never finish to learn to play online poker. Thanks for your comment :)

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