What's Your Position on the Game of Poker?

Hi. Come on in. I've made some pizza sub sandwiches. They have all of the stuff you'd have on a pizza – cheese, pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, ham, and pizza sauce – but it's on a giant sub roll. Dig in while we huddle here in the dark corner of your poker mind and calmly contemplate the concept of "position" in the game of poker.

There are many new players in the game today, and the playing of position is an unknown factor to most of them. If that's you, listen up. This is very important. Position in a poker game is simply how many players will act after you do. You must consider what those players might do before you decide what you are going to do. So, if you are first to act, you have to make your best evaluation of what action the players behind you might take.

The hands you play in a poker game will be mostly of the fair variety. The bad hands you will have thrown away, and the good hands don't come along that often. The good hands usually will win for you, but they'll win more if you have an understanding of position at the poker table. The fair hands will sometimes win and sometimes lose. How much they win or lose will depend, in part, on your knowledge and use of position.

If they play long enough, most poker players will eventually figure out that it's best to be the last to act, after the other players have already acted (checked, bet, raised, and so on). That's usually their first glimmer of position.

You won't want to bet it into several hands yet to act if you are holding only a fair hand. If one of them raises, you're either going to be trapped for two bets if you call or surrender one bet if you decide to fold.

In last position with the same fair hand, you'll already know what action the other players have taken when your turn comes. Now, you have much more information on which to base your decision.

Watch for opportunities to arise in which you'll be acting from late position, where your hand need not be as strong as an early-position hand. Be constantly aware of your position. If you must act early, a fair hand becomes vulnerable, and you'll want to play it with caution.

When your hand is strong, you'll usually want to bet it whatever your position – unless it's so strong that you decide to slow-play it or go for a check-raise. Even then, you want to be aware of your position. How many players are left to act behind you? What will be their likely response to your action? How can you get the most amount of money from them in this hand?

Do you want to know something else about position that's really important? I figured you would. Where you sit at the table, to the right or left of certain types of players, is also playing position. You'll want to be "positioned" where you can most efficiently judge the value of your hand in comparison to those players who act ahead of you and those who act behind you.

Some players say you should sit to the left of aggressive players, and some swear you should sit to their right. My opinion? I definitely do not want to be sitting to the right of a skillful, aggressive player. This is because he is one player you really want to have act ahead of you, because he's the one you'll have the most trouble with in trying to figure out what he'll do after you act.

When you first enter a game, you probably won't have a choice of seats. But pay attention to where the most aggressive player in the game is seated, and sit to his left if and when that seat becomes open. That's true in any poker game – stud, hold'em, whatever. Acting after these types of opponents act means that you can control the action, not them. (Let the argument begin.)

I once had what I consider to be the ideal seat, between an aggressive player on my right and a very loose, play-every-hand player on my left. Another player in the game casually asked me when I planned to leave. I wasn't about to go anywhere. After a while, he offered to pay me to let him know ahead of time when I was leaving, so that he could get my seat.

Enough for today. I'm going to have to launder some more bibs before we get together again. Or, maybe I'll buy you a red shirt. Now, I require repose. Take a handful of pepperoni to munch on the way home. And kill the light on your way out.

Roy West, author of the bestseller 7 Card Stud, the Complete Course in Winning (available from Card Player), continues to give his successful poker lessons in Las Vegas to both tourists and locals. Ladies are welcome. Call 1-800-548-6177, Ext. 03.