There
are times when your positional advantage allows you
to win a pot you would not otherwise have won. Most
of the time, though, the best hand wins, whether it
happens to be first or last. So what we really mean
by positional advantage is the extra bets that may
be saved or gained by your being in late position
- a check after your opponent checks, a raise after
your opponent bets, and so on. The importance of these
extra bets cannot be overemphasized. Never forget
that in poker we are trying to win money, not pots.
Every decent player wins a fair share of pots, but
it is the extra bets you can get into the pots you
win and those you can save from the pots you lose
that increase your hourly rate and the money won in
the long run.
There is little you can do to secure last position
from one deal to the next, but when you have it, you
should make the most of it. In seven-card stud, for
example, you should anticipate the position you will
be in from one round to the next. If an ace or an
open pair is to your immediate left, that figures
to make you last in the next round. You may play your
hand a little differently, a little more aggressively,
a little more loosely, than you would if you were
expecting to be first.
In contrast, when the bettor is to your immediate
right, forcing you to act ahead of everyone else,
you must tighten up considerably. It is extremely
important that you fold almost all marginal hands
in this position. The possibility of a raise behind
you plus the chance of a reraise from the original
bettor is devastating. Furthermore, you can frequently
count on being in the same unpleasant position - not
accidentally called under the gun - for the remainder
of the hand. If you constantly call bets with marginal
hands in this position, you will have to fold so many
of them - either later in the same round when the
bet is raised or on the next round when the bet is
repeated - that you will lose an enormous amount relative
to the occasional pots you might win by staying in.
Thus, in five-card draw, if a player to your immediate
right in early position opens, you should throw away
two aces in most cases. In the same position in lowball,
you'd usually have to throw away a one-card draw to
a 7,6 and possibly a 7,5, even though these are hands
you'd gladly play if you were sure there would be
no raises behind you. In seven-card stud if the player
to your right raises the opener on third street, you
should fold most middle-sized pairs when there are
several people behind you who might reraise.
With any of these hands you'd almost certainly call
in last position, a fact that underlines another of
that position's advantages: You can play more hands.
You no longer need to fear a raise from players who
have not acted, and in most instances you will probably
remain last on future betting rounds as well. Even
in seven-card stud, when the bettor to your left happens
not to be high on board and thus first to act, the
other players will usually check around to that bettor
on the following round. |
