Postion

Why is Position So Important?

This question is posed by a lot of beginning poker players.
They see advice that touts the advantage of good position (usually when looking at starting hold 'em hands), and can't understand why you can play so many more hands in late position than early.
Position is all about information.
You want to make informed decisions, not guesses, In late position, you always have more information than in early position.
You can see the actions in front of you and decide how to react to them.
Poker is a game of reacting to your opponents' play, and in early position you have nothing to react to; hence you must try to guess what the opponents will do, which is a lot worse than knowing for certain if you are in late position.
This essay will discuss the big advantages of having good position, especially with regard to deciding on starting hands.

Wait a minute. I have to act first every round ?

The first thing you must consider is that you won't just be first this round; in fixed position games like hold 'em, you will be stuck with this poor position for four rounds. Having to act first can be a huge disadvantage on future rounds. To see what those disadvantages (advantages for late position) are, read on.

What kind of pot will this be?

This is your first concern when deciding whether or not to play a marginal hand. There are plenty of hands where, if you knew that a six-way pot with no raise would develop, you could play the hand for profit despite being out of position on future betting rounds; however, you won't make much playing them against just two or three opponents, and you definitely don't want to call a raise with them preflop. Examples are 5-5 or 8-7. In early position, you have no clue which pot will develop: three-way for two bets, or six-way for no raise. This is a huge disadvantage, and since you can't take the chance that the former will be the case, you must muck these hands in early position, especially considering your positional disadvantage on later rounds. In late position, you have a pretty good idea what kind of pot will develop, and you can adjust your calling standards appropriately.

I can't buy a free card today!

In case you weren't already aware, he who has position gets to make a bunch of plays that add to his long-term profit. These include buying free cards with drawing hands, bluffing or semi-bluffing when the others have checked, reacting appropriately to the betting action in front of him, betting marginal hands with confidence when the opponents have checked in a shorthanded pot, and much more. All of this tells you why you definitely prefer having position to not having it.

Do I risk the free card or risk missing out on the check-raise?

One of Mason Malmuth's favorite commentaries on the difficulty of limit hold 'em is that when you flop a hand like top pair, good kicker in early position in hold 'em, you are often faced with a difficult choice. You would like to check-raise to knock players out of the pot, but if you check and it is checked around, you have given a free card to several hands that desperately wanted one. If you knew no one was going to bet, you would have bet, but you couldn't tell what would happen.

With position, this is not an issue at all. When the action gets to you, you bet if no one has bet, and raise if someone has. You can always make the correct play, because by the time it is your turn to act, you already know what the other players were planning to do.

As an added bonus, if someone in early position was planning a check-raise and you check in late position, you have been given a precious free card which may breathe new life into your hand. If the positions were reversed you would never enjoy this advantage.

Can I value bet here?

Often, especially in hold 'em, a scare card hits on the turn or river. If you knew your opponent would check, it is better to bet, charging him to outdraw you or to show down his worse hand. But if you are first to act, you can't see your opponent's reaction to that card until after you have acted. Especially in pot-limit and no-limit games, it is a huge advantage to be able to see how your opponent reacts to this card before you make your decision. This advantage is offered to you only if you are the one with position.

There's no way they could have checked a good hand. The coast is clear for a steal!

This situation is most common in pot-limit Omaha, or pot-limit Omaha hi-lo when only one low card has flopped. Players in these games realize how easy it is to have a good hand get outdrawn, so they will almost always bet when they have hit something good. This means that if it is checked to someone in late position, he can show a profit by betting virtually every time. Hold 'em players, don't worry, this opportunity will come your way plenty of times, especially in no-limit. In early position, you have no idea if the others have something they were planning to bet with, so you have a lot less information to act on.

Are you staying in?

Rare is the home game where this situation has never occurred: Player A bets, and while B is deciding what to do, he turns to C and asks "if I fold, are you going to stay in?"

There are many situations in all forms of poker that go like this: someone in early position bets, and you have a marginal calling hand. Of course, if you knew someone behind you was going to raise (or with many hands, even if he was going to call), you would get out of the pot without even putting in one bet. In late position you can see all the action in front of you and make an informed decision, rather than having to guess what will happen.

The bottom line

There are many more advantages to position than those listed here, but it boils down to this: poker is a game of information, and in late position you have much more information than in early position. You want to make informed decisions, not guesses. Because of this, you can play more liberally with good position than with bad.