Position at poker table is a significantly underestimated factor by many novice poker players. Your position at the poker table may (and will) have a significant impact on your wins/losses with the same starting hand. How well will you use this factor in your game will determine how profitable your poker sessions will be.
Before starting to play with any starting hand in Texas Holdem, you should always be aware of your position relative to the dealer (dealer's position oftentimes called 'button'). Below you can find basic poker table position names:
- Closest positions immediately to the left of the button are called early positions (abbreviated as EP).
- Closest positions immediately to the right of the button are called late positions (abbreviated as LP).
- Positions in between the early and late positions are called middle positions (abbreviated as MP).
A graphical representation of the positions at the poker table for the full tables (9-max, Full ring)
- Positions colored in red are early positions. At the full tables (usually this tables are used for poker tournaments) there are three early positions. In poker terminology they are commonly called UTG (an abbreviation from Under the Gun). Individually they are classified as UTG-1 (early position at the poker table that is closest to blinds), UTG-2 (early position following the position of UTG-1) and UTG-3 (position following the UTG-2);
- Positions colored in blue are middle positions. At the full tables there are three middle positions. They are called MP-1, MP-2, MP-3 and are arranged in the same order one after another. The common name for all middle positions is MP;
- Positions colored in green are late positions. These are the best positions to play at the poker tables. There are only 2 (two) late positions in the game and they have different names. The first late position is cut-off (CO) (this is a position located immediately after the middle positions). The last late position is the position of dealer (BTN - button);
- Positions colored in yellow are the blinds (small blind and big blind). These are one the worst positions at the poker table.
A graphical representation of the positions at the poker table for the short tables (6-max, Shorthaned)
Below you can find basic poker table position names: Closest positions immediately to the left of the button are called early positions (abbreviated as EP). Closest positions immediately to the right of the button are called late positions (abbreviated as LP). 'Texas Dolly', 'Amarillo Slim', and 'Treetop' are just a few of the best poker player nicknames that date back to the good old days of poker. The WSOP was young.
Poker Seat Names
- Positions colored in red are early positions. At the short tables (6-max) there is only one such position called UTG;
- Positions colored in blue are middle positions. There is also only one middle position at the short tables. It is called MP;
- Positions colored in green are late positions. There are two late positions at the 6-max tables. They are called dealers positions and cut-off;
- Positions colored in yellow are blinds. There are two blinds positions at the short tables. These positions are called small blind and big blind;
- Each seat at the poker table has a name. In this video, Chuck walks us through the different shorthand used to describe the seats at the table as well as why.
- Poker Copilot tracks some statistics by position. For example, you can see ' VPIP ' by position: The positions are defined as follows for 10-player tables: BB – big blind; SB – small blind; BTN – button; CO – cut-off (the seat to the right of the button) MP – 'middle position.
You will win a lot more money in late positions in poker, than in early ones. Button (dealer's position) - is the most profitable position at the poker table.
Explanation of position abbreviations (UTG, MP, BTN, etc.)
UTG (abbreviation from Under The Gun). This is the name for early positions in poker. UTG position is a seat to the left of big blind. A player sitting on the UTG position is the first to act on preflop.
MP - a term used to define middle positions at the poker tables, i.e. positions in between the early and late positions. At the 6-max tables this is a position to the left of UTG.
CO (abbreviation from CutOff) - a position exactly before the dealer's seat. This position is considered the second strongest position after the dealer.
BTN (abbreviation from Button) - the strongest position at the poker tables. A player sitting at this position will act last in every betting round.
SB (abbreviation from Small Blind). A player sitting on this position will act penultimate at preflop and first at all the other betting rounds during a hand.
BB (abbreviation from Big Blind). This is a position of a player sitting exactly after the small blind. The player sitting on the big blind will act last at the preflop and second in all the other betting rounds during the hand.
You should grasp the basic idea of playing on the blinds, which is that you will act last only on preflop. In all the other remaining betting rounds you will act first, which you should avoid.
Positions at the poker table
Early positions at the poker table
Positions colored in red (look at the pictures above) are early positions. These positions are considered less preferred for the game, because sitting on one of the early positions you will, most likely, act first postflop. That means that in early position you will have to be more selective to your starting hands, as you will have less information about the hand strength of your opponents (because you will act before them). Thus, in early positions you will need to pay more attention to your starting cards.
Middle positions at the poker table
Positions colored in blue are middle positions. Players sitting in the middle positions possess a 'positional advantage' over players sitting in early positions. At the same time players sitting in late positions have a 'positional advantage' over players sitting in middle positions.
That means, that you will be able to play with a little more starting hands on this positions (i.e. on middle and late positions), because less opponents will be acting after you. However, if all opponents on early positions will fold their cards, this will mean that you will act first in every following betting round. So keep this in mind when you will make a decision to play or not to play with that or another starting hand.
Late positions at the poker table
Positions colored in green are late positions. In fact, these are the best seats at the poker table. When you are in the late position, there is a high chance that you will act last in every betting round. In these positions you can play with a wide range of starting hands. But that doesn't mean that you will need to play with the weakest hands, such as .
Dealer's position (Button)
Dealer's position is the best position at the poker table to play your pocket cards from, because sitting in this position you will always (excluding preflop) act last in every betting round. That's why you should try to play the biggest amount of your hands from the dealer's position, because you will have a positional advantage over your opponents, and position in poker is everything!
Cut-off
What is the cutoff position in poker?
Cut-off is a position exactly before the dealer's position. Cut-off is the second best position at the poker table to play your starting hands from after the dealer's position, because if an opponent on the button will decide not to participate in a hand, you will act the last in all betting rounds. Cut-off and button are the perfect positions for stealing the blinds, because not a lot of opponents will act after you, and the chance they will have a good enough hand to call your bet will be low.
Lojack Position In Poker
Blinds
Small blind
Small blind is the worst position in poker, because sitting in that position you will act first in all the betting rounds excluding preflop (on the preflop small blind is acting penultimate). The key moment for playing from that position is the strength of your hand. You should play only your strongest hands from that position.
Big blind
Big blind is a position right after the small blind. This position is also one of the worst for playing your pocket cards from.
The advantage of position in poker
If you are in position to your opponents, you will have a few significant advantages:
- You will be able to play more starting hands on preflop
- You will be able to steal blinds
- You will be able to use pot-control
- You will save money, because you will possess information about your opponents actions on all streets and make your decisions based on the information you have. At the same time, out of position players will act blindly
- You will possess information about the amount of active players in hand, their types, as well as their action on all streets
- You will be able to evaluate the relative strength of your hand
- You will be able to win money on flop if an opponent/opponents will play check before you, showing you their weakness
- It's much easier to bluff for players in the late positions
Statement: The positions is very important in poker
There's no doubt. Let's take a look at one example that shows the importance of position in poker. Let's say we have on preflop:
In early position. It's better to get rid of that hand because you don't have any information about how your opponents will act, who are sitting in a later positions. Maybe you will have a chance to see the flop, but even in that case you will act first in the next betting rounds and you will have no clue what to do on such a board as .
In late position. You can decide either to play this hand or not based on your opponents actions in the earlier positions. If all players will fold their cards you'll be able to make a raise and take the blinds. However, if your opponents were active on the preflop (made a raise, for instance), you will be able to get rid of your hand easily, without losing a penny.
Statement: It's harder to bluff an opponent sitting in position towards us
And that's absolutely true. It's much harder to bluff out the opponent sitting in position towards us. Let's take a look at an example:
6 max table. You are sitting on a dealer's position with . Player on a middle position (MP) makes a raise and you decide to call. All other players fold their cards. The flop is . An opponent makes a continuation bet and you call. The turn card is dealt and now the board looks like . Now your opponent has a tough task to solve, because if he doesn't have a good made hand (top pair or better), than he can only win this hand by bluffing. But he doesn't know anything about the strength of your hand, since you can easily have in your hand and you will not fold it. So if he will continue to play aggressively, he will lose money. You have an advantage over your opponent: you are sitting in position towards him and acting last. Now if your opponent will decide to make a bet, you can assume that he has a strong hand and will easily get rid of your cards, and if your opponent will check you can make a bet yourself and take the pot.
How to use position at the poker table
If Player A makes his decisions at the poker table after Player B in every given hand, that means that Player A has a positional advantage over Player B. Simply said - Player A sits in position to Player B.
When in position, you can use information, obtained by watching your opponents actions before you: what actions did they performed, or what size of bets do they make - that's what your decision will be based on. For example if you sitting in position to opponent and he makes a check that would more often mean his weakness. Thus, you will be able to use this information and make a bet, forcing an opponent to fold his cards.
The basic rule of positional play: At the poker tables, with all other things being equal, you will have an advantage over opponents sitting to the right from you (because you will be acting after them). At the same time, all players sitting to the left of you will have an advantage over you (because they will be acting after you). Hence the conclusion: the best positions to play your cards from are the late ones, because you will act last on postflop. Slots of vegas $200 no deposit bonus codes 2019.
Positional awareness
You should try to play more hands in position than without it.
However, this statement does not mean that you will have to play every hand in a good position, or fold good hands sitting out of position just to balance things. In reality that means though, that you will have to be more inclined to play weaker hands in position, and fold the same hands (or even stronger ones), when you are out of position.
Let's take a look at an example of playing KJo from different positions.
You should be playing this hand very carefully from an early position. This is one of the worst hands still falling into category of 'good hands' and if you're sitting out of position makes playing with this hand quite undesirable. This hand is not strong enough to neutralize the negative effect of your position.
In late position you can regularly make open raises with such a hand (if there was no raises before you). If you're in a position to your opponents, you are also able to call their raises. This is a good situation, because besides the vantage position you have a decent starting hand.
It's quite difficult to understand for beginners how the same hand can be played in late position, but can not be played in early. How can you learn how to define which hand can be played, and from what position?
As they say 'The appetite comes with the game'. This saying can also be used in our situation - you will need time to get an understanding, but the more you will play, the more experienced you will become, and you will have more understanding of the game and the opportunities to play with each starting hand from different position. But if you only started to play poker, you are advised to get into the hand only with premium cards not depending on a specific position at the poker table. And that would be considered absolutely normal, as you would need a playing experience to get a full understanding of playing process. Just be patient and ready to widen your range based on your position, in the process of sharpening your playing skills.
Advice. Constantly be aware of your position. In the early positions a good hand can become vulnerable, and you would be required to play it with caution.
A graph, showing an understanding of positional play
Below you can see an image showing all before mentioned - you should play more hands in position. Americas cardroom download not working. This graph shows a VPIP of a winning player depending on a position in a 6-max games.
VPIP shows a percentage of voluntary put money into the pot (when he either raised or called raises preflop). In fact, this graph displays a % of played hands in each position.
Please note, that given player plays a lot more hands from late position if compared with early ones. He's not playing same hands from all positions. He is not playing for a sake of good stats in Hold'em Manager, but tries to make good decisions in-game instead, based on his position at the table.
Conclusions about the positions at the poker tables
Position at the poker tables is one of the most underestimated factors among the beginners. The position determines the profitability of one or another starting hand. In position you can extract profit from almost any hand if you have sufficient playing experience.
The sooner you will start to pay attention to your position at the poker tables, the sooner you will start to win money.
You can also read our articles 'Choosing your starting hands' and 'Relative position in No-Limit Texas Hold'em'
Back to the Basics of No-Limit Texas Hold'em section.
Some material was taken from thepokerbank. You can also check out How to Play Poker Guide by Beasts of Poker.
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Poker Position Names
When playing a poker game, some positions are more profitable compared to others. To distinguish the poker positions, every seat has a name with unique characteristics. As such, every poker position involves a different strategy to help the player to remain competitive and profitable. While the best play isn't tied to specific cards, the player must account for his position when choosing a strategy.
Here are some of the positions available:
Big blinds (BB) – The big blind pays with two at the bottom left.
Small Blind (SB) – The small blind pays with one to the bottom left.
Button (BTN) – The best position on a table, it's on the right side of the blinds.
Cutoff (CO) – This is the second-best position in a poker table, located right of the Button.
Hijack (HJ) – Located right of the Cutoff. This position is also known as the Middle Position on a six-max poker table.
Lojack (LJ) – On a six-max table, this position is known as Under the Gun (UTG), located at the Hijack's right.
Middle Position (MP) – Situated right of the Lojack, this position is exclusively found on a full ring.
Under the Gun (UTG) – Found exclusively on full ring tables, this features the three earliest poker positions, UTG+2, UTG+1, UTG.
The Button's Role
On a poker table, the positions are not fixed. However, their relationship to the Button dictates each seat's position, moving a seat clockwise after every hand. In live poker games, the Button is marked with a plastic disc and represented graphically when playing online. However, in home games where there's no designated dealer, the seat holding the dealer button deals with the current hand.
Learning About Poker Positions
Poker positions are used to define the position that the players sit to the dealer and also dictates whether you'll be first or last to place the wager.
- Early Positions
These are players sitting three seats next to the dealer. They're considered the worst poker positions since they're the first to act without knowing how the other players will play their hands. For instance, you'll have to decide whether to raise, bet, fold, or check with limited information about the other players. That's why it's always advisable to play the best cards while you're in these positions. That means cards that are powerful enough to carry the day without help from fancy moves by other players.
- Middle Positions
As the name suggests, the middle positions represent the three seats at the center of the circle. At this position, you get to see the moves that players in the early position make before you act, though there are still several other players that will play after you. Generally, you can relax when playing in the middle position compared to the early position. However, you still need to be careful.
Poker Middle Late Position
- Late Position
This is the best poker position, as it allows you to have enough information about all the other players before you make a move. Unless you're the Button, it can be advantageous to raise the hand more aggressively than when sitting in the positions next to the dealer. Additionally, the players in late position can take the hand simply by betting, especially if no one has placed a bet in the round.
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