Your position within the game is a concept that is widely underestimated and misunderstood among the Texas Hold’Em beginners. In order to improve your poker gameplay, you need to learn and master a strategy that takes into consideration your position. While it might seem a bit confusing at first, it’s actually a concept that is relatively easy to understand.
When you play poker online, there is a dealer button, which in live poker is the actual dealer, but in online poker it’s just a sign on the table. The player on the left of the dealer will pay a small blind, the following player will pay a big blind and the third player from the dealer will be the first to play during the round.
This position is the worst possible, because you are going to be the first one to make a decision and because you don’t know anything about what the other players’ bet. Because of this, the position is known by poker players as “under the gun”.
But why is this position so bad? Let’s suppose that you have a reasonable, but not premium hand. You think that with a bit of luck from the community cards, you will be able to get some chances of winnings, so you call. However, one player after you will raise the bet by a lot. You are not willing to invest such a big amount in a relatively weak hand, so you will fold, thus losing the money you used in the earlier call. Had you been at the button (thus the last player to bet), you would have folded right away, without needing to lose that money.
This is why, players tend to play only the best hands when in early position, but they will play weaker hands if they are in late position. If you are under the gun, it’s better not to risk your money on a weak hand and you could just fold and wait for a better hand.
The people in late position (those who get the chance to bet among the last) will see all the other pkr bets, so, if everyone either called or folded, they can try bluffing: doing a raise, because they expect the other players don’t have good hands and they will not try to waste their money. This strategy is called stealing the blinds, because everyone will fold, thus the game will not reach the flop and the bluffer will win, getting just the blinds.
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When you get ready to sit down at a Texas Hold ‘em table in a casino, you have to be prepared. No excuses. And part of this is developing a strong before-the-flop strategy.
You general poker strategy may be different from mine. I prefer to play tight (aka safe) most of the time. I definitely recommend avoid taking too many risks before the flop where there are a large number of players at the table. Of course, the more people there are, the more likely it is someone else is going to have a better hidden hand that you. If you start throwing bluffs around like they’re souvenir dollar chips, you might get one or two people to bite every now and then, but you won’t get someone with a strong hand to fold all the time, and you’ll expose yourself rather quickly as a reckless player.
Also, the more legitimate competition you face once the flop comes, the less likely you are to ride your mediocre hand to a victory. So unless you’re really a pro, you hurt your own financial status by upping the pot too early without the cards to back it up. At that point, your best option is to cut your losses, fold and learn from your mistake.
As a beginning to the game, there’s nothing wrong with betting carefully. You’re likely going to find yourself hesitant to make large moves anyway, especially if you’re sitting early in the betting rotation. It comes back to how much risk you’re prepared to take. And being prepared is a hell of a lot better than making rash strategy-related decisions on the fly. You won’t be able to make a calculated decision if you constantly feel like you’re rushing or on the spot, and you’ll expose your anxiety quickly to anyone paying attention.
As you become more comfortable with the game, you’ll know yourself, and get a sense for how you want to play the hand before the flop. Are you that risk taker? Are you OK with putting up significant bets without always having the cards to back it up? This takes us down the road to the conversation of how much guts you need to be an affective bluffer, but that’s an article for a different time.
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