Position

“Position”

In this video you will learn... … why position is so important at the poker table … what relative position means … what influence position has on your game

Poker is a game of incomplete information. Therefore every piece of information you can acquire about your opponents and their game is very valuable. The more players at the table who must act before you, the more information you can get. Then you know, for example, who went into the hand out of which position and by which action. This is about “absolute position”.

The absolute position is determined relative to the button and at a 6-max table is called Small Blind, Big Blind, UTG, MP, Cutoff and simply Button. It determines who is first and who is last to act pre-flop. More important , however, is the

“relative position“. The relative position means your position relative to other active players in one hand. It decides who is first to act at the flop and who can make his decision last. In this example, there are three players at the flop in this hand: Big Blind, MP and Cutoff. Here, there are three relative positions. Out of position: The player who is first to act post-flop plays out of position – in this case, the player in the Big Blind. In position: The player who is last to make a decision post-flop plays in position – in this case, the player on the Button. And when there are – as in this case – more than two players in the hand, then there is the sandwich, who is sitting in between the players OOP and IP. If it is a heads-up pot then the sandwich does not exist.

When you are in position, you are always last to act post-flop and can use your information advantage to make your decision on every street. This means the button is the best position at the table, because post-flop he is always in position. The worst position at the table, on the other hand, is the small blind. Although he is second to last to act pre-flop, post-flop he is always first to act and therefore has no information advantage.

In position, you can play more hands than you can play out of position. The factors that determine the choice of your starting hands are essential for this. First: The probability that a player who is to act after you has a strong hand. The later your position is, the lower the probability of this. And second: The chance that you can play in position post-flop. The later your position is, the higher the probability of this.

Pre-flop, the player in UTG is always first to act. In this position, the probability of a strong hand after you is very high, since there are another five players still to act. For the same reason, the chance of you being able to play in position is very low. Therefore you play by far the least hands out of this position. Up until the button… …the later your position, the lower the probability of a strong hand after you. At the same time, the probability of you having position post-flop becomes higher. At the button you will always play in position post-flop, as long as you are not folding pre-flop. Although the probability of a strong hand after you is very low when you play at the SB, since after you there is only the Big Blind left, you will never play in position post-flop. You can play a lot more hands here than in earlier positions, but still a lot less than on the button. At the Big Blind there can never be a strong hand after you, for you are last to act pre-flop. Post-flop, though, you will only play in position, when only the Small Blind is in the hand with you. So for the choice of your starting hands, you have to consider that you can play more hands the closer you sit to the button.

Playing in position has many advantages and continuously influences the choice of your spot at the table. You want to play against weak players often times and ideally be in position on them. Therefore you should pay attention to whether you sit on the left or on the right of a weak player. The closer you sit to a player on his right side, the more often you have to play against him out of position. On the other hand: The closer you sit to a player on his left side, the more often you can play against him in position. Consider this at your table- and spot-selection.

In this video you have learned that the position decides who is first to act and who is last to act. your relative position post-flop is decisive for your game. There you can act out of position – which means first – or in position – which means last. When there are more than two players in the hand and you are sitting in between them, then you are in the sandwich. Playing in position gives you an information advantage, and by doing this you can play more hands.