Using Your Position In Poker

Poker is a game played with incomplete information as you do not get to see your opponent’s hole cards. In order to make a decision at the table you have to observe betting patterns, pay attention to the player’s image amongst other elements and then use this limited information to make an educated guess as to whether your hand is good.

This makes playing in one of the later positions at the table much more attractive as you have more information at your disposal before you have to make your decision. Many players are aware of this, especially online poker players who have a plethora of information available to them via forums and software but a large percentage of these players fail to actually fail to fully utilise their positional advantage over their opponents.

If you are playing position properly then you should be playing aggressively preflop, raising limpers and isolating weaker players. You can actually force your opponents to tighten up dramatically preflop by three-betting them lighter than usual. Some players will try to become the table captain and try to run things their way but if you have position on such a player then you should retake control and show them that position is king.

You should also run more multi-street bluffs, particularly in a cash game. There is a large percentage of players who will limp into the pot, call your preflop raise and then check/call your continuation bet. At this point many players will give up on their hand, unless they have a made hand of course, but having a position means you can fire again on the turn and even the river if needed to put your opponents under maximum pressure. For example, a player limps in and you raise with 9h8h. He calls and you both see a flop reading Tc4d2h. He checks, you continuation bet and he calls. Now the turn brings the Ac, a lot of players here would check behind if checked to but it is perfect for firing again and you will take the pot more times than you would give the move credit for.

Finally, you should be willing to value bet more thinly whilst you have position on your opponent. Many players will simply check behind their opponent on the river when they have a hand they think to be best but are not 100% sure but when you have position on them you should bet a large percentage of the time and put the pressure back onto your opponent to make the call. The amount of pots you will win without showdown will far outweigh the times you lose when you are beaten or have to fold to a check-raise.

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