Johnny Chan Talks About New Position Poker Game

This May, the Bellagio will be debuting a new poker variation called Position Poker with a $500 no-limit hold’em tournament during the WPT Five-Star World Poker Classic. In order to give a little incentive for players to try out the game, Position Poker has decided to add $10,000 to the prize pool.

The game has already been approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission and has won over the approval of ten-time WSOP bracelet winner Johnny Chan. Card Player recently caught up with Chan to discuss the new game and to find out why he thinks it could spark a mini-boom within the poker world.

Julio Rodriguez: Can you tell me more about position poker?

Johnny Chan: Position poker is a game designed to increase action. There are two buttons in the game. You have the regular button which determines the blinds and the deal and then you have the winner’s button, which is given to the player who won the previous pot. The player with the winner’s button is skipped over on each street and is given the last option during the betting rounds. They essentially have position during the entire hand, even over the regular button.

It’s just like real estate, but instead of location, location, location, it’s position, position, position. The game is designed for action junkies. A weak, tight player will be at a tremendous disadvantage, so you really have to open it up if you want to compete.

JR: This upcoming event at the Bellagio will be no-limit hold’em, but can this format be used in other variations of poker?

JC: You can apply the position poker to pretty much any poker game. It obviously works well in flop games, but I see no reason why it couldn’t work in stud games or draw games as well. If you’ve played any form of poker over the years, you know just how important it is to make your decisions after everyone else at the table has acted. Imagine having the winner’s button when you are supposed to be in the small or big blind. All of a sudden, you go from acting first to last!

JR: How did you get involved with position poker?

JC: When I was first approached about the game, I was really skeptical. After all, there are so many poker games out there and everyone is pretty much stuck to small variations of hold’em and maybe Omaha. But then after taking a look and seeing how simple it was, I realized that this could really catch on. It really wouldn’t be any more complicated than adding a kill button or a mandatory straddle to a game. We’re hoping that with this upcoming tournament, people will get to experience it and it will grow in popularity.

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