Poker Position

Poker position is an important factor to consider when playing poker. Where you are sitting can (and should) affect your poker strategy.

Poker Positions

In a typical Hold’em game (one with blinds), you are the small blind when you are seated to the left of the dealer. You are the big blind if you are seated to the left of the small blind and thus are two seats away from the dealer. You are under the gun, on the other hand, if you are seated to the left of the big blind or are three seats away from the dealer. The player to the right of the dealer is in the cut-off position. The rest of the players in the poker table have no special labels, however.

More generally speaking, however, all players in a poker table are classified by how early or late in the round they are going to act (fold, call or raise). Early position players include the small blind, the big blind and the under-the-gun player. The dealer, the cut-off position player and (sometimes) the player two places to the dealer’s right are late position players. All the rest are middle position players; of course, if there are only six in a table, then there are only early or late positions in the table.

Poker Position Implications

The best position in poker is the late position. A late poker position ensures that you will be able to gauge how good the cards of early position players are before you have to make your move. Furthermore, by the time that the betting round comes to you, you will probably have fewer opponents than the actual number of players seated at the table. Some of the early and mid-position players would have already dropped and folded by the time it’s your turn to bet – and in poker, your chance of winning becomes greater the fewer your opponents are.

However, the small blind and the big blind – although they are out of position and cannot react to other players’ moves in the initial betting round – do have a certain advantage. Since they have already contributed to the pot, waiting for the flop costs less for them than it does for the rest of the players at the table – unless, of course, someone in the middle or late position raises pre-flop.

Early position players should be careful about which hands they’ll play. Generally, they should bet aggressively if they have strong hands; otherwise, they should try to play things slowly.