A
player's position in the betting sequence is an important,
yet underrated aspect of poker. In our discussion
of raising, check raising, and the free card, we have
shown how position affects the way you play a hand.
Indeed it can be said that position is one of the
key elements affecting virtually every play in poker.
In games like five-card draw, draw lowball, and hold
'em, you know your position in advance of each deal
since the person to the left of the dealer, the man
under the gun as he's described, always acts first,
and the dealer acts last. However, in stud games,
both high and low, you can rarely be sure where you'll
be in the betting sequence from one round to the next,
as we have noted.
Position is more important in some games than in others;
it is particularly critical in hold 'em and in five-card
draw and draw lowball. However, in all poker games
it is far better to be last to act, primarily because
it is generally easier to decide what to do after
you have seen what your opponents have done. Logically,
then, the worst position is to be first since you
must act before you know what any of your opponents
are going to do. You might, for instance, have a hand
that's worth a call if there are two or three other
callers, but in first or early position you cannot
be sure there will be any other callers. In last position
you could know for sure whether you were getting favorable
pot odds for a call, and if you weren't, you could
save a bet and fold. When you are neither first nor
last, the closer you are to last position the better,
since you have fewer unknown quantities behind you
and more relatively known quantities in front of you.
Advantages of Last Position
To suggest how important it is to be last, let's take
a situation from seven-card razz. Suppose you started
off with a good three-card low, and you think your
opponent did, too. Now you catch a king or even a
queen, and your opponent pairs up on board. Without
a pair, you clearly have the best low hand if play
were to stop immediately, yet you should not bet.
The open pair makes it likely that your opponent will
be last to act on every betting round, and that fact
more than makes up for your slightly better first
four cards.
Why is it so much better to be last? For a variety
of reasons. If you are in last position with only
a fair-to-.good hand and the first player bets, you
can call without having to fear a raise behind you.
Players in early or middle position have no such comfort.
If they call with a fair hand, they risk having to
throw it away or pay a big price to continue when
there's a raise behind them.
If you have a big hand in last position, your advantage
is even greater. To see how much so, compare it to
being first. In first position with a big hand, you
might try to check-raise. But if no one bets behind
you, you have lost a few bets from players who would
have called a bet from you, while you have given a
free card to players who wouldn't have called. On
the other hand, if you come right out betting in first
position, you cost yourself money when a check-raise
would have worked. Even in middle position with a
big hand, you have difficult tactical decisions. If
no one has yet bet and it's up to you, you must decide
whether to bet or risk sandbagging. If someone has
bet in front of you, you must decide whether it is
more profitable and tactically correct to raise, inevitably
driving out some players behind you, or to call in
the hope of some overcalls behind you. In last position,
you have no such problems. If no one has bet, you
can, and if someone has bet ahead of you, you are
at liberty to raise or to slow play after knowing
how many players are likely to remain in the pot.
If your hand is mediocre, it is still advantageous
to be last. On the first round you can call the small
opening bet without fear of a raise. On later rounds
players ahead of you may check better hands than yours,
which allows you to check behind them and get a free
card. However, if you checked that same mediocre hand
in an early position, an opponent might bet a fair
hand behind you, denying you a free card and probably
forcing you to fold. When the pot is down to two players,
positional considerations still apply, perhaps more
than when there are several players in the pot. In
last position you can bet a big hand when your opponent
doesn't and raise when he does. With the same hand
in first position, you'd have to decide whether to
try a check-raise or bet; when you check with the
intention of raising and your opponent checks behind
you, you cost yourself a bet; if you bet when a check-raise
would have worked, you also cost yourself a bet.
With a mediocre hand against one player, it's also
advantageous to be last. If you can't call a bet,
you still may get a free card when your opponent checks.
In first position, you are not at liberty to give
yourself a free card. Finally, if your hand is somewhere
in the middle good but not great - it is better to
be last. It's true you will bet in either position,
but in last position you have the edge of being able
to call when your opponent bets. In first position
you might bet what is a calling hand and find yourself
raised by your opponent in last position. The only
real threat to a player in last position is the possibility
of a check-raise. Consequently, in games where check
raising is not allowed, being last is even more advantageous.
Once players ahead of you have checked, you can feel
reasonably confident they are not sandbagging with
a big hand.
Advantages of First Position
However, this point does bring out the fact that there
are a few situations where it's advantageous to be
first. In first or early
position you get more check-raising opportunities.
Furthermore, with a lock in first position you might
win three bets by betting and reraising. Finally,
you sometimes want to drive players out to make your
hand stand up; only raising in early position, before
opponents have had the opportunity to call the first
bet, can succeed in doing this. Nevertheless, these
first and early position advantages are minimal in
comparison to the many advantages of being last.
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