Once you have mastered the basics of Texas Hold’em you will quickly discover that your position during a hand will affect how you should play. Many players soon realise that their relative position affects their game, but most underestimate just how important it can be. This is as a result of the dealer moving the button around per turn, in order to ensure that all players present are required to pay a blind.

It is important that you appreciate the value that poker plays, as well as the relationship between the amount of information you have and the value of it. Put simply, the more information you possess the more effective your tactical decisions will be. If you act blind, then you will find that you rush into trouble.

The overwhelming majority of hands dealt in poker will rely upon position as a variable of some consequence and so it is for that reason then that we will consider the different positions that will crop up and from there, how they will affect the player. First up we have the blinds and these are situated immediately after the dealer button. Without a doubt, these provide the greatest amount of challenge to the player because they will be expected to play with no way at all of knowing what cards their opponents have. The next three spots are referred to as the middle position and these are better than the blind spots, although the slight improvement it should be noted is precisely that, slight. The next three seats are regarded as the late spot and as such they are much more favourable because the player who happens to be situated here will have a greater idea to their opponent’s strength. A wise player will be able to use this information to determine the best strategy forward. You may have noticed an odd quirk thus far: the blinds in the description thus far were actually the last hands to be used. Please note that this is only applicable in the first round, and that all later rounds of action, it is the blinds who are required to move first. The dealer’s button will then progress around the table as required, and this requires further explanation. The button is regarded with some avarice by players because it provides the shrewd player with an advantage just before the flop is executed.

Now that you are in a better position to be aware of the actual layout of the table (and more crucially, the significance attached to each spot) let us now turn our attention to a scenario in practise that will highlight the significance of position. For the purposes of this hypothetical setting you will have in your possession a seven and a ten during the earlier phases of the match and you decide that you will raise the pot. The player beside you decides to do the same, and the player after him likewise follows his example. What should you do now? Put rather bluntly, you do not have an especially useful or powerful hand at your disposal and the odds are not firmly stacked in your favour (sadly). What makes this such an awkward and problematic set of affairs is the uncertainty that permeates the entire affair, in truth there is no way at all of guessing what the player after you will do. An expensive flop, with this level of ambiguity and doubt is a sure fire recipe for disaster and may ultimately spell your untimely demise.

Let us consider the other end of the spectrum then: you have the same hand (7 and 10)during the cutoff stage and there happens to be four limpers who preceded you. Based on their limping, you assume that they have mediocre hands as well and therefore they will require a boost in order to get them to the flop. Whilst it is possible to reraise the pot, another option to limp through the play and hope that you stumble across a monster hand. With this sort of hand you will be well on the way to securing absolute victory because you will be able to earn yourself a major boon to your bankroll. With such a swollen bankroll you can then safely keep playing in order to recoup your losses.

However, you can always rely on life to throw you a curveball and a proverbial spanner in the works, and so you will need to be aware that in many cases the flops are sadly going to go right past you. As you play more often and get a greater appreciation for the value that positions have, you will learn that a weak hand in the earlier stages is not something that can be easily countered or recovered from.

Position is even more important in Texas Hold’em, in fact, it is entirely possible for a single hand to win a match, and therefore a decent appreciation for how it works is crucial!

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