Position

Why would we refer to real estate when discussing the basics of poker strategy? Because there is a solid connection between one of the most important factors in real estate – location, location, location – and one of the most important factors in poker - position, position, position.

Poker Position: The Importance of Information

It would be very difficult to explain the idea of table position in one sentence. But we can start by saying that being able to act after other players is usually best. If a couple of other players bet, call or raise before us we are able to make our decision with some important information. The first player, who is sometimes referred to as being “under the gun,” doesn’t have this luxury. Others in early and late position are also acting without as much information as the players in late position have.

Some of the best learning tools available are in Jennifer Harman’s chapter on low-limit Hold ‘Em in Super System 2 (Doyle Brunson, Cardoza Publishing, 2005). After a few lines about blinds and antes, Harman opens the chapter with “Hold ‘Em is a positional game.” If a poker player of her calibre sets the tone with a statement like this, who are we to question it?

Poker Position: An Anecdote

Ten pages of this chapter analyze various hands and moves, each of them related to early, middle and late position. This is not only common among poker professionals who write and speak about poker strategy, it’s essential. One example will help us understand this even better: A player asks a question at a live seminar. He says something like this, “I had a pair in the hole and the guy after me raised my bet. What should I do?”

The pro who was leading the seminar came back immediately with, “What position were you in?”

Our amateur/student got a puzzled look on his face and said, “I don’t know, sort of middle, I guess. But I want to talk about the hand.”

A few folks in the group laughed quietly or smiled as the professional said, “We can’t talk about the hand without considering position.”

Position as a subject for poker education is covered in hundreds of pages, films and live seminars. For this introduction to an essential poker concept, let’s finish with a quote from Harman that will start us on our way. “When in early position, it is important to remember that the rest of the players act behind you, so your hand has to be strong enough to stand a raise.”