Position

It won't take any good poker player long to understand the value of position in Texas Hold'em. Position is defined in relation to a player's proximity to the dealer's button and should have a big impact on the thought process of any good poker players.

On a table of ten players you are said to be in early position if you are one of the two blinds or the two players to act after the blinds. Seats five to eight are said to be in middle position, while the two players who will act last are in late position.

It would be impossible to overstate the importance of position in Texas Hold'em, or indeed any game of poker. The later you are in the betting order the more information you have to make a decision on what to do with your own hand. The earlier you are in the order of betting the more difficult it is to determine what other players may be holding.

The importance of position can be shown here, with an example which highlights the value of being the last to act. Just say there are three people left in a hand of Fixed Limit and you're holding A-K in your hand. The flop then comes down 9-7-3. If you were the first player to act you might be tempted to put in a continuation bet to see if you could win the hand there and then, unaware of what the other two players are likely to do when it comes their turn to bet. However, in this example they act first, with the first player putting in a bet and the second player instantly re-raising them. Straight away you can see that one of them has almost certainly now got a better hand than you and possibly both of them do. You can fold safe in the knowledge that you were behind in the hand.

That is the advantage of being last to act in a hand and you should always make the most of when you have that extra edge.

If you're in a middle position then you will have seen what players in early position have decided to do, but will still be unaware of the intentions of those players in late position. You're almost in a no-man's land but at least you do have some early information to go on, which could prove to be valuable as you decide what to do.

An extra advantage of being in late position and therefore one of the last to act in a round of betting is that you have the opportunity to steal blinds and also pots. Before the flop, if everyone has folded to you, on the button, and there's only the blinds left to act then a raise in that situation will often win you the blinds.

Likewise, after the flop, if everyone checks around to you then there's a good chance that they don't have anything and a suitable raise from you has a great chance of winning the pot. If a player then re-raises you it is highly like that they were slow-playing you in the first place and you can get out of the hand there and then if you don't have a strong hand yourself.

Your position in a hand should also help you decide which starting hands are best to play in the first place. If you are in early position and have a marginal hand then bear in mind that any bet you make stands a real chance of being re-raised by a player still to act. When you're one of the first to go you have no information on which to judge what the players still to act might be holding in their hands.

Furthermore, you should also always bear in mind that if you decide to play from an early position you will be in that early position right throughout the rest of the hand. This is especially important if you've decided to defend your small or big blind against a raise.

One possible advantage of being first to act is that a very strong hand which you don't bet or raise with stands a chance of being raised by some later in the betting order, thus affording you the chance to come over the top with a re-raise. Be aware though that if you do decide not to raise in early position with a starting hand of, say, A-A or K-K, then you do run the risk of allowing other players to limp into the pot, and the more players you allow into the hand cheaply the greater the risk you run of your big starting hand not winning.

The Starting Hand Group provided will help to give you some idea of the sort of hands which will provide you with the best prospects, relative to your position at the table, in each hand. It is advisable that you familiarise yourself with it and try to make sure that you understand the importance of your position in each hand of Texas Hold'em. * Playable late if nobody has already raised