Position in Holdem Poker

Continued from: Calculating Estimated Value Just as there are three L's in real estate, as there are three P's in Holdem poker: position, position, position! WHY? Having later position will allow you to make more fully informed decisions and therefore fewer mistakes.

The first reason is simple - when you have to act early you don't know what kind of strength your opponents will show (especially before the flop.) KQ is a mediocre strength hand at a full table (7 players or more). So, let's say you decide to play it from early position. You are first to act and you call the blinds. Now the player directly after you raises 3 times the blind, and the player after him calls. Now what? I don't know. I suppose you throw your hand away and lose the money you put in to call. OK, so suppose you raise in early position with KQ and two players call. The flop comes Ks Ah Ts. Now what? I really don't know. Do you lead out at the pot and hope no one has a straight or an ace? Do you check and hope that your opponents don't have flush draws and straight draws? You're in murky water, not a good place to be.

Now, let's suppose that you are last to act, the dealer. Everyone folds to you and you have KQ. Now it's an easy raise. Just make it 3 times the blind to go and see what happens. Let's suppose both blinds call you and the flop comes Ks Ah Ts. Now, if both players check you can be reasonably sure that you have the best hand, so go ahead and bet. But, suppose the first player bets and the second player raises. Now you can throw your hand away and not lose any more money. So, if you'd acted first and bet out, you would have been raised off the pot, but because you acted last you lost less money.

In very simple terms, when you are in late position and you have a hand like KQ, there are just fewer players left who could have good enough hands to call with. If you raise with KQ in first position, there could be seven players left to act, any of whom may have a huge hand, AK or better. When you raise from the dealer position with KQ after everyone else folded, you only have to compete with two random hands in the blinds; you're hand rates to be the best. Also, if either of the blinds does have a calling hand, you still have the advantage of being last to act on all subsequent betting rounds.

Now, I'll just put this in simple practical terms. Assuming you are playing in a poker game with normal sized blinds, and with around 7-8 players. I'll just show you what hands are good enough to play from early position, first or second player to act.

• 1) AA
• 2) KK
• 3) QQ
• 4) AK
• 5) AQ suited
• 6) JJ
• 7) TT
• 8) 99
• 9) 88
• 10) 77
• 11) AJ suited, maybe... MAYBE, with 7 or fewer players.

THAT IS ALL.

So, what do we do with QJ in early position? We throw it away.
KJ, same thing.
AT, throw it away.

♣ Continued at: Basic Math for Playing Holdem

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