Table Position
Table position is an important component of poker strategy. In this poker tip, you’ll learn about the various table positions found in a 10 player table setting. You’ll learn about the benefits and risks of these positions and the best ways to play them.
If you look at the small diagram at the top of this poker tips post, you’ll see the layout for a 10 player table with the various seats represented by colored circles. The yellow circle represents the dealer button, reds are early positions, blue circles are middle positions and green circles are late position. For the purpose of this poker tip, I’ll refer to no limit Texas Hold’em as the game being played. However, these table position concepts apply to most online poker games.
Playing early positions
After the dealer, the first red circle will be the small blind (SB) and the big blind (BB). On the first betting round, the very first person to act is the last red circle, just after the big blind. On all subsequent betting rounds, betting will start from the SB position. On the first betting round, the first player to act has a huge disadvantage because they have no idea how the 9 other players will act. This is why it’s important to play only premium starting hands from this position. Additionally, you should probably open with a raise that is at least 2.5x the BB in order to make sure that some of the opponents will fold. By reducing the number of players you’ll face, you’re increasing your odds of winning the hand because it’s less likely that someone will hit the flop when there’s only 3 people in the hand vs when there’s seven for instance.
While the blind positions have a forced bet on the first betting round, they also have the advantage of acting last on the first betting round only. This is an opportunity to bluff and steal the pot. However, players will often give less credibility to the players in the blind positions and will often call them if the bet is not large enough. Alternatively, you can simply call. Since you have already an amount invested in the pot (the blinds) and you have other players who also put money in the pot, you’ll play a lot of hands from these positions simply because there is typically enough at stakes to warrant playing. Maybe you’ll get lucky and hit the flop.
On subsequent betting rounds, the blind positions act first so unless there’s just a few players left in the hand, conservative play is in order.
Playing middle positions
The middle positions are good to limp into pots and try to see a cheap flop. Since only a few players acted before you as well, if they are limpers and you have a great starting hand, raising likely means that the limpers will fold. However there is a risk that players that go after you could reraise. Therefore only raise with a premium starting hand from middle positions. In other words, be aggressive when you’re strong, be tight when you’re not that strong, and fold hands when they are weak.
Playing late positions
This is the basically the opposite of early position, where you get to see a lot of players act before you and can get an indication of everyone’s strength. This is a good time to bluff or setup bluffs, play marginal hands and trap. From these positions, you can be very aggressive but you have to be careful not to over do it on subsequent betting rounds. If you keep betting into a large pot with nothing and one or more opponent keeps calling, you could be in trouble. While aggressive play is certainly in order, you also need to know when to give up a hand.
Playing on the button
This is the most position that provides the most advantage because you get to see how everyone acts before you play. It’s the prefect spot for trapping and bluffing. Aggressive play is in order when you sense weakness, and it’s also a great position to chase cards when you want to make a straight or a flush, as long as the pot odds are in your favor. Even if you don’t hit the card you need by the time the river comes, by calling every bet before that, opponents will think you have a string hand and if you sense that they are weak, this is a great opportunity to bluff with a large bet and take down the pot.
