Poker Positioning

If you are new to poker or a veteran, one term that you will constantly hear about is “positioning.” In Texas Hold’Em and Omaha poker, position is paramount and one of the most important factors that a poker player must take into account at the poker table. Position will more often than not dictate to a poker player to play the same identical poker hands differently depending on just what his specific position happens to be. That same player may toss poker hands that might be played by a player in a late position into the muck from an early position at the poker table.

Position is where a player sits at the poker table in relation to the “button.” The “button” is passed clockwise at the poker table from poker player to poker player each poker hand. The button is a disk, similar to a hockey puck, that designates which poker player represents the dealer and a poker player sitting “on the button” has the best position at the poker table as the button poker player is the last to have to act beginning with the flop and on through Fourth and Fifth Street. By acting last, the button gets the best read on what potential poker hands the other poker players at the poker table are holding and can bet accordingly depending on how the earlier players act/bet.

The later a player’s position at the poker table, the better that position is and, conversely, the earlier the position for a player the worse his position is. When you hear the phrase “out of position”, it refers to a player who has to be one of the first to act at the poker table. The Blinds are definitely slots at the poker table that are out of position.

A player’s mastery of the position issue and his ability to understand position and its relevance both to his own and his poker opponents play of poker hands at the poker table is paramount to a poker player becoming successful at poker.

Poker players who fail to grasp the critical importance of position and its effect on the overall strategy at the poker table are doomed to habitual losing and frustration as it is truly impossible for a poker player to win at poker without mastery of the concept of position.