Online Poker : Poker Position
The boss has spoken. He wants more advice and less drivel
in the column (what's the difference you may well ask).
He just doesn't care about whether my fridge was empty at
the end of January… So what if my 5 year old daughter
couldn't go to the cinema to watch Peter Pan? What's wrong
with a good game of noughts and crosses? Exactly. So, here's
probably the minimum I can get away with on the subject
of 'position'.
'Position' is just plain common sense. The further you
are from the Big Blind, the more information you have. It
is commonly believed that having the best position is always
being in last position. In fact, my mate Brad who has an
IQ of 180, insists that being last to speak is always the
best position to be in. It is in fact one of the few statements
he has made that is completely incorrect, wrong, short sighted
simplistic rubbish…but for the time being we will
assume he is right.
Let's assume that we have all been good boys and girls,
and we are sticking to Fixed Limit Hold'em at bet365poker...
no bigger than 50c/$1. (I know that No Limit is more fun
but patience, patience, patience.) Ok. So you are first
to speak after the Big Blind, commonly referred to as 'under
the gun'. You are looking down at AJ. Nice hand... No, not
in this position. There are 9 players who haven't acted
yet. 9 hands that may contain a pair of Jacks, Queens, Kings,
Aces, AK or AQ. All of which, you don't want to play against.
And, should you raise from this position, all the hands
that you want to play against, JK, JQ, J10, A10, A9, will
probably fold to your raise. The bottom line being if continuously
play AJ from here, you will lose money in the long run.
Difficult to believe? but true... honest guv, I'm a poker
player.
OK. So we are now sat on the button. Le position perfecte.
You look down at AJ. Nice hand…well maybe… Lets
say. The man under the gun raises, the next player re-raises,
and the ultra tight Miss Rock of Gibraltar, I only play
Aces, next to you has capped it. Do you want to play your
AJ now? No, of course not. But the point is, you have found
out that you don't have the best hand without putting a
cent of yesterdays winnings in. If you had raised under
the gun, and then had to fold, you would have wasted 2 bets,
$2, half of Sian's entrance fee to watch Peter Pan.
OK. So we are now sat on the button. Le position perfecte.
You look down at AJ. Nice hand... well maybe... Lets say.
The man under the gun folds, everyone folds and the regular
limper in with A 2 to your right, limps in. Now of course,
we want to raise. The guy to your right didn't raise, so
he can't have a better hand than you. And there are only
2 hands (the small and big blind) behind you. A very small
chance of there being a better hand than yours… If
you get really lucky, the Big Blind might fall in love with
his J 9 and call as well. The flop comes down Ace high or
Jack high, and they will probably bet and call your raises
all the way to the river.
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