One of the most subtle but influential assets you can have in a poker game is your position of play. Many people that play poker have little to no concept of the importance of this position, or what position of play even refers to.
Most players are so focused on their card playing strategy that they overlook other important aspects of the game. But if you are serious about improving your poker playing this one simple trick can make a huge difference.
An important part at being good at poker is understanding the many different things that contribute to the game and how it is played. So many players let themselves get sidetracked by card strategy alone, that even a good hand can be ruined by narrow minded playing. Once you are aware of the contributing factors you can better protect your hand and even manipulate them in your favor.
What Is the Best Position
One of those underrated factors is playing position. This is where you sit at the table and the
order that it designates you to play in. Whenever possible having the dealer position is optimal. Otherwise you want to be as far from the dealer as you can get. On one hand, this means your cards are dealt last which has very little impact. On the other hand, it means you make your moves last.
Worst Position
Alternately the worst position you can have is the first position, or the small blind position to the immediate left of the dealer. As the name implies the first position means you have to make all of your moves first. You will set the tone of the hand and have less time to consider your cards.
What a Good Position Can Do For You
The last position is the best position for a number of reasons. Playing last allows you to gauge the choices made by other players. Did they bet or check and how quickly did they do each?
These observations can be used to determine the right move for you. The farther your position from the dealer the more time you have to consider your hand, calculate pot odds and analyze your fellow players and their moves.
Obviously the first player has no position advantage, while the last player has the largest advantage. All of these are advantages that give you a huge edge against players in early position.
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