Using Your Good Position

Everyone who plays hold’em knows that good position is an asset. Acting after you see what your opponent does on a betting round improves the accuracy of your decision. But just knowing this maxim is obviously not enough; you want to know the techniques to use with superior position. In this column, I will discuss a number of actions that you can take to put the benefit of position to good use. For the sake of simplicity, I will assume that you are on the button, and I will be discussing only the flop betting round.

Stealing a pot that no one wants: You are last to act and the field checks. If none of the players are trapping with a big hand, you have the possibility of simply betting and winning the pot. This is not a mechanical process. You will fall short of obtaining the maximum result if you adopt a policy of betting whenever the field checks. As in just about every other poker situation, it is wise to vary your game. You can bet with a decent hand, a draw, or absolutely nothing. You also can check with any of these three types of holdings. I try to steal about one-fourth to one-half of the pots when it is checked to me and I am last to act.

Here are a few guidelines on whether or not you should try a steal:
We will assume that the pot was not raised preflop, as the preflop raiser usually makes a continuation-bet. If the preflop raiser is on your immediate right, the checks to him should not automatically be assigned disinterest in the pot; a player with a good hand may have held back, expecting to axe the preflop raiser.

The main factors that dictate the advisability of a steal are the number of opponents and the texture of the flop. These factors indicate how likely it is that someone was helped by the flop. The more players there are, the more likely it is that someone connected. The more boardcards there are that are ranked in the playing zone (the top half of the deck), the more likely it is that someone connected. The presence of a two-flush or a couple of closely ranked higher cards increases the chance that someone connected.

You also should realize that players feel obliged to bet when the boardcards favor the presence of drawing hands. A two-flush usually is enough to stop someone from slow-playing. Cards connecting in rank create a lot of straight draws.

Here are a few flops, and what I would be thinking:

Q 7 2: No straight draws or flush draws. A player with a good hand may be tempted to check, but there is only the queen to latch on to in terms of likely holdings. I would usually bet when checked to.

A 9 5: A hand with an ace in it seems to get played more often than not. Aces might check, as there are no overcards to worry about for a drawout, and no two-flush or open-end straight draw. I would seldom try to steal on this flop when facing multiple opponents.

10 10 3: People love to slow-play when they make trips on a flop like this. If I bet, it would be a delicate probe, not a pot-size wager or anything close to it.

K J 8: I would be afraid to bluff-bet a flop like this one if I faced multiple opponents; too many card combinations are possible.

J 10 8: Multiple straight draws (and a made straight) are very worrisome, and there also will be a fair number of two-pair hands. If you see me bet into multiple opponents with a flop like this, I am loaded for bear! This is not a pot for bluffing, even if opponents have checked.

K 8 3: Believe it or not, I would rather bet a single-suited flop like this than the previous J-10-8 flop.

Calling can be a useful offensive weapon when you have position. Here are some calling plays that you can use:

Smooth-calling with a good hand: When the flop is not extremely dangerous-looking, you can call with a wide range of good hands that are actually strong enough to raise. Cash-game players with deep stacks often just call with a solid hand, especially with hands that are not strong enough to play for all of their money but are a favorite to be good. Here is an example: You hold the A K under the gun and choose to limp in with a call. The button and the blinds play, and four of you see the flop, which is a delightful K 8 6. The small blind checks, the big blind bets, and it is up to you. Why raise “to find out where you’re at,” which will warn the other players that you have a good hand, when you can smooth-call and hope to win more money? You do not have enough hand to want to get all in, but you would not be unhappy if the original bettor made another bet of modest size.

Smooth-calling with no hand or a long shot: Suppose on this same flop that you had limped in from up front with the 10 9. Now all you have is a gutshot with a three-card straight flush. But after the others have seen you just call with big slick, you can often make a “float-call” with almost nothing. The idea is to make your opponent think you have a king with a good kicker (or better), as there is not much else that you, a tight and tricky player, could legitimately have to be calling. If your opponent then checks, you can take a free card if you pick up a flush draw, or run a bluff if you get no help. You need the right table image and the right opponent to use the float play, but it is a useful tool to have in your toolbox.

Smooth-calling a fearful player when the board has a lot of drawing possibilities: It’s the same situation, but this time the flop is J 10 5. When a player with the heart of a hummingbird bets, call. If anything comes that could make a flush or a straight and he either checks or bets a timid amount, blast him out with a big bet or raise. Consider your table image and your opponent before unveiling this weapon.

You also can use the raise in a menacing manner when you have position. For example, you can play a drawing hand in a very aggressive manner. When your opponent bets, you can raise. I do this only when I am willing to react to a reraise by going all the way to the felt with my draw. If I have just a simple straight draw or flush draw, I do not raise unless I’m short-stacked. However, with the nut-flush draw, a pair and flush draw, or a flush draw and straight draw, I will raise if I think my opponent probably has only one pair and is deep in money. This situation occurs most often when the bettor is the preflop raiser, and therefore is liable to have only an overpair (if that much). Again, your table image and your opponent are major factors in deciding whether to raise or just call with your draw.

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.