Table Position

[PokerStud]

Table Position

As Texas Hold’em quickly becomes a popular American pastime, many people strive to improve their game and develop strategies. One of the key elements to formulating an effective poker strategy is to consider table position.

When deciding to enter a pot in Texas Hold ‘em, I consider the following information:
hand value, table position, preceding action, who is in the pot, and pot odds. All of these have an effect on my decision, but I would like to discuss only one. That is table position.

When playing, I label each player as the following.

First two seats after the BB. = Early position
Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth seats = Middle position
Seventh, Dealer seat, and both blinds = Late position

The basic rule is that the earlier you are, the stronger the cards you must have. So if I were in an early position I would only play the strongest hands. The reason for this is simple, the more people to act behind you the better the chance of someone re-raising you. So the closer you move to the dealer seat, the more marginal hands you can play.

What you want to do is gain the proper value for your hands. You don’t want to lose bet after bet calling raises with inferior hands. Here is an example: You are in early position with QJ, you decide to call the big blind. A player in middle position calls and the dealer button raises. It is folded around to you. What do you do? If you call, you invest more money into a pot that you know you do not have the best hand. If you fold, you lost your previous bet you made. So in both cases, you lose.

Below is a generic strategy I recommend for the beginner. It is a bit on the tight side but it will allow you to keep your bankroll a bit longer.

EP= AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AKs, AK, AQs
MP=TT, 99, 88, 77, AQ, AJs, AJ, ATs, KQs, KQ, KJs, QJs, QJ, KJ, JTs, AT, KTs, QTs
LP= 66, 55, 44, 33, 22, Ace anything suited, all suited connectors, KT, QT, T9s

This is a strategy for when you enter the pot first. Following this simple guideline can help you boost your game and your win ratio.

Do you find that you play differently based on your table position? How does table position dictate the hands that you choose to play?