If you want to master online poker, the game of tactics and strategy, then understanding table position plays a significant role.
Generally, if you are playing your very first online poker game, then you might feel that the game is completely based on cards that you possess. However, there are a lot of elements to the online poker game that make it highly fascinating and thrilling. Your chances of winning depend a lot on the Poker strategies you use and the skills you possess, they also depend on your ability to make use of your table position. In a poker game, you often might hear players talk about the position. While your actions on the table depend quite a lot on the strength of your poker hands, they may vary quite a lot according to the table position you have for a particular round. In a nutshell, you may play certain hands from a specific table position, which you otherwise couldn’t have played from other positions in online poker. Let us understand what these table positions mean and how they enable you to take appropriate actions to enhance your chances of maximizing your winnings or minimizing your losses.
What is “position” in poker?
In a popular poker variant like Texas Hold’em, you have the dealer button – the person from where the cards are dealt, followed by the forced bets in the form of small blind and the big blind. The blinds are then followed by the person who is seated immediate clockwise to the big blind. This position at the poker table is likely to change every game, so you get to play your poker hands from different positions. When you are watching a live poker game, or you are playing against the best poker players, you do realize most of the poker game hands lead to “in position”. The golden rule of poker is if you play “in position” you are likely to have an upper hand throughout the gameplay.
Which player has “position”?
As you are now well aware of what is a position in poker, let us focus on who can utilize the position on the poker table.
- The one who takes the last shot (action) on the betting round can be considered having “In Position”, since he has the advantage of knowing the moves made by every other opponent in that round, and so can alter his strategy while playing last.
- The player acting first at the beginning of all betting rounds can be deemed as “Out of Position”.
Are you wondering if there are types of positions that you could use to maximize your chance to survive the game? Let us take a look at different table positions possible in poker!
Positions in an online poker game
Poker comprises of three positions, namely:
- Early Position or EP – It refers to a player sitting on the immediate left-hand side of the big blind and is known as ‘under the gun’ (UTG). If you are at this position, you will be the first one to act and are likely to find it tough to strategize here as you have no idea about the opponents (all of whom would play after your turn). The player who is to the immediate left of UTG, will be referred to as UTG+1 and he is also considered to be in an early position. You need to try and play less hands when you are at the early position.
- Middle Position or MP – When you are someone who gets to take action after players in the early position, but before the players in the late position, you are said to be in the middle position on the poker table.
- Late Position or LP – If you are someone who gets to act after everyone else has made their move, you are said to be in the late position. The player who is seated to the immediate right of the dealer button is referred to as ‘cut off’ and the one who is seated to the immediate right of the ‘cut off’ is known as the ‘hijack’. Both these are late positions and give you the benefit of knowing the moves of most opponents, and stealing the blinds. At the cut off, you can even bluff, act a strong hand, or even raise a blind. Of course, the player with the dealer button is also in the late position. And this dealer button position is the best position to hold on the online poker table from where you can play the best hands in poker. This position allows you to play more poker game hands.
Final Thoughts:
In any poker game, the position at the table can determine your appropriate strategy for that round. When you are ‘in position’ (late position) in an online poker game, you are likely to play more poker hands and increase your chances of winning. On the other hand, you would do well to play it safe and indulge in less hands when you are ‘out of position’ (early position) in online poker. This will help you to minimize your losses and give you more opportunities later to maximize your winnings. Try out reliable app like MPL, which is liked by innumerable poker players!
