There is so much to learn that falls under the heading of poker strategy. Here at Juicy Stakes Poker, we try to peel away the many elements of strategy so they fit together as a sum of parts.
Here we would like to talk about position in Texas Hold’em.
What is Position?
Well, books have been written to define the term, and we have only 1000 words or so. Therefore, we will define position as: the number of people who will have the chance to bet after you.
The verities of position can also be separated into before the flop and after the flop. There are three bets after the flop and only one bet before the flop. A player in early position before the flop will not be in early position after the flop, but an injudicious bet in early position before the flop can cost a player a tidy sum before they can enjoy the positional advantage after the flop.
How Many Players Can Bet?
At a table with seven players, the players in early position will have five or six players with the chance to bet after they bet. Until you become very adept at reading opponents and reading subtle opportunities, it is probably best to stick with the tried and true set of hands that you can bet with in early position before the flop.
In terms of strategy, this last statement points to a very important aspect of poker strategy, namely, that you have to learn how to study people in order to have any kind of advantage in poker. This certainly takes a lot of time. Studying people and recognizing subtle hints we all know is a very big key to poker success.
Read the Classics
The truly great books in English number about 100 or so. A great book, we are talking here about novels, has invented people doing invented things and saying invented words all of which come together to create remarkable characters and scenes.
Reading the classics for the character studies in them will go a long way to helping you see the very small clues opponents at a poker table give off.
A great novel shows you rather than telling you about a character. Try to understand each character’s motivations and try to anticipate the characters’ next decisions, called moves or bets in poker.
Limping in is a Sign of Weakness
Limping in means calling from early position. A player who has decided to stay in the hand should have a bettable hand. In that case, it is better to raise the big blind rather than simply calling. Just calling tells the others that you feel that you might hit a hand on the flop but that you don’t have that hand yet.
For observant opponents, when a player limps in to see the flop tells them a lot more about that player than he or she might gain by a good flop.
Some poker strategists say that you should never be the first to limp in. Our take on this is that it is never a good move to limp in at any time. If your hand is marginal but bettable, you should raise the big blind.
A player betting before the flop where no one before him called or raised can call with a marginal hand and not be considered to have limped in. That’s because the players ahead of him have already eliminated themselves.
Accept the Weakness of Early Position
Every player spends a lot of time in early position. It is a part of the game that has nothing at all to do with players’ different skill levels. A Daniel Negreanu or a rank amateur will probably fold most bad hands in early position.
You should fold at least 70% of all hands before the flop and a higher percentage of hands in early position.
Having said all this, you should also know that the trend of bets versus folds in early position can be a strength as well as a weakness. Great players like Daniel Negreanu can raise with a weak hand when they feel that the time is right. Until you reach a level close to Negreanu’s you should still fold those hands he raises with. But you should strive to develop your poker skills to the point where you can fool opponents with a timely raise in early position.
If You Have to Contemplate, You Should Fold
This piece of advice applies to betting in early position before the flop. Things are different later in the hand where you should go over all bets and apply everything you know about an opponent before making your decision.
If you are contemplating before the flop and you are in early position, everyone else at the table will know that you have a true borderline hand. Someone with a marginally better hand will raise you big time and force you out of the hand. You will lose the bet you made after contemplating what to do.
Always fold if you aren’t sure.
Raise High with a Very Good Hand
If you have aces or kings, and you are the first one to bet, you should raise high. This might scare away most players. In fact, you should expect most players to fold anyway. But it might also cause some players, all you need is one, to stay in the hand.
We don’t mean betting way out of line. We mean betting more than you would if you were just raising the big blind. The big blind will do whatever he or she needs to do to defend their big blind. So, you can probably work the pot to your advantage by betting high in early position with a good hand.
Play Aggressively but Carefully
Everyone says that we should always play aggressively, and at the same time tell us to be careful. These two pieces of advice seem to contradict each other.
For true new players, they are contradictory. A new player should always be more careful than aggressive. Aggressiveness is a skill that you need to develop. When you are capable of playing both carefully and aggressively, you will know that you have reached a higher level.
A Raise from Early Position Might be a Bluff
You need to develop your poker persona to the point that the opponents think that your raise from early position is a reflection of real strength. Bluffing is a separate skill that will require another article dedicated just to it. For now, consider that a raise from early position will be seen by all opponents either as a raise from strength or as a crass bluff.
When you can raise from strength and fool the others into thinking that you are bluffing, you will be on your way to poker success.
Juicy Stakes Poker Offers Great Online Poker
Of course, online poker and land-based poker are quite different. The difference is mostly in the physical presence of all the players. As far as betting from an early position, the two forms of poker are the same. Master betting from an early position and you will win a lot more than you lose.
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