The position is your seat at the poker table relative to other players. Whether it’s free online poker or cash it is your position that will show when you will act in the hands of poker. In full ring games (9-12 players), in each betting round:
(1) The initial position consists of three or four of the first players to act.
(2) The middle position consists of the next player after the initial position to the player before the position is late.
(3) Late position consists of three or four of the last players to act. Preflop, Dealer, small blindness, and great blindness will act, in that order.
Postflop, small blind and big blindness is the first to act, and the last dealer acts.
Why is an important position?
Why do most players prefer playing the most in late position? In short, it’s because you are given further information in a late position.
If you are in a late position, the action of the players in the initial position is additional information to you. But players in the initial position have no benefit from the information coming from your actions.
This is why most players (especially good players) do not like to give up their button (dealer buttons) unless they have absolute waste. They call a small gain with decent hands like 9-7 or A-5 (but not too big big gains, of course).
In the game nine hands, suppose you have Q-J, marginal hand, under the gun (the first person to act a preflope). Will you raise? There are still eight players after you act, and there will be more likely that they will have a better hand than you. (A-X will make you beat). So folds.
In the middle position, you can call one increase, or you can raise; You are indifferent.
From the button, you raise if nothing acts before you (you can steal the curtain in this way). Or contact if someone lifts small (because you have a position).
From the curtain, you call (because of a discount) but you have to be careful with the Postflop play because you run out of postflop position. Or you can even repair a salary increase if you feel Raiser is weak (raising it with common garbage in good players in the final position that wants to steal the curtains usually).
The position is also important when playing with players in a fixed style.
– Desired to act before the stone so you can turn it up easier.
– Preferably to act after a loose sprinkler chip so you can raise it if you press hard flops or if you have A-A, then expect Reaseaise and then you can move all-in.
– Fight the call station, it doesn’t matter where you sit – just bet if you have a hand and then expect a call.
As for playing against really good players, your ideal position should not play at all! Don’t tangle with them. If you can’t avoid it, then play in a way that is unpredictable, and take advantage of your time acting afterwards.
This point moves us from the table position to a more strategic level in choosing your game wisely. I won’t expand here except to say, don’t play above your level of expertise unless I deliberately practice with the money you have set aside to lose, or better in the free poker game table where you can hit and burn with impunity and Learn at the same time.