No-Limit Hold'em Position

In poker, "position" refers to whether you act before or after your opponent. Acting first reveals information, so it is harmful to your chances. However, the degree of harm is far from uniform across the full spectrum of hands. So-so hands are hurt more than hands that normally have a clear strategic plan, such as monsters or junk. Flop a set, and you can usually bet and keep betting. If you miss the flop completely, how bad can it be to check and fold? Of all the various hand categories, drawing hands are hurt more by bad position – and helped more by good position – than any other hand type. Let's take a closer look at some concrete situations after the flop with drawing hands, and see the interplay between a drawing hand and a made hand.



Some people take it as a cardinal poker principle that a drawing hand does not want to be all in, so it can have the leverage of being able to bet for value or run a bluff. This is a valid idea when there is only one card to come, but may not apply when there are two cards to come. To understand the situation properly with two cards to come, let us look at the game of seven-card stud low (razz). If after five cards one player is drawing to a wheel and the other has an 8-7 low made, the draw is a slight favorite, and would like to be all in at the point when there are two cards to come. However, in pot-limit, if there is a reasonable amount of money left to bet, the made hand can get a money edge with the correct and obvious strategy. If the draw hits, the made hand folds. If the draw misses, the made hand bets the maximum. Now, to stay in, the draw has to put a lot of money into the pot to see the last card at a point where it is a substantial underdog. The point is, the made hand can get the advantage over the draw by patiently seeing one card.



Let's look at a similar type of situation in no-limit hold'em. Here is an open-book test: The pot is $100 and both you and your opponent have $400 left. You have top pair and your opponent is drawing. He acts first and bets the pot ($100); what strategy should you adopt if each of you can at this point now see each other's holecards? The proper answer is found by counting the outs. If the made hand will be better than a 2-to-1 favorite with two cards to come, you can lock up the pot by moving in on the flop, as the money odds offered to the draw when a pot-size bet is made are exactly that amount. However, if the made hand is less than a 2-to-1 favorite, the better play is to see what comes on the turn. If the draw hits, you fold. If the draw misses, you move in. This is a good illustration of the scenario that the draw wants to avoid.



Naturally, in a poker game, you are not playing open-book. The knowledge is imperfect. However, the opponent is usually going to adopt the normal strategy of betting big if the draw does not come in and the hand acting first checks. That is the most important reason why the draw would much prefer to act last; he will not have to show weakness by checking the turn (or risk betting big when he is a substantial underdog because there is only one more card coming).



Another situation in which you would much prefer to have position is when you have a straight draw and there is a flush draw on the board. The idea, of course, is to represent the flush if it comes. Doing this is safer when the opponent checks after the flush arrives than firing from front position, praying that you are not representing the opponent's hand. In this type of situation, I prefer to be facing the preflop raiser, who still may be betting his starting hand, than someone who called on the flop, indicating that the boardcards fit in with his starting hand.



The above discussion was to show how a draw benefits from good position. Your starting-hand selection should put this knowledge to work. Each starting hand has a distinct character. Any hand can turn into a made hand after the flop, but it is easy to see which hands are more likely to become a draw. I am referring to small connecting cards and a small suited ace.



You should not play small connectors from the small blind. Being halfway in is not sufficient reason to play a weak draw-builder from the worst position at the table. I admit to putting the other half of the bet into the pot in unraised pots with any suited ace, because the nut flush is a potential double-up hand. However, I do not play either of these hand types from early position.



Your position affects the size of your preflop wager. I bet a bigger amount if out of position, as even when I have a fine starting hand, just winning the pot is not a bad result. My normal raise or reraise is the size of the pot. However, if I am in the blind, I overbet the pot size, usually by about 20 percent or 25 percent. I have the same attitude when I open-raise from the small blind, where I prefer to open for four or five times the big blind, rather than just tripling it. Time and time again, we see a player with aces or kings "look for action" by wagering a small amount, even when out of position. If the opponent is able to outflop a big pair, he will win a large pot, and maybe even double up.



With good position and deep money, I am willing to call a preflop raise even with small connecting cards, as long as the raiser is not on my immediate right. The best position is when you are on the button with several players in the pot, and one of the blinds puts in a large preflop raise. That person figures to have a hand that's strong enough to make a continuation-bet, which will middle the whole field. If I can catch a good flop, the chances are bright for winning a big pot. If you are in position, you can take a chance playing those connectors and other marginal holdings.



Good position is critical in no-limit hold'em, especially when building a draw. To enter a pot in no-limit, you need one of three things: good position, a strong hand, or a large inheritance. ♠



Bob Ciaffone has authored four poker books, Middle Limit Holdem Poker, Pot-limit and No-limit Poker, Improve Your Poker, and Omaha Poker. All can be ordered from Card Player. Ciaffone is available for poker lessons: e-mail [email protected]. His website is www.pokercoach.us, where you can get his rulebook, Robert's Rules of Poker, for free. Bob also has a website called www.fairlawsonpoker.org.