Table position
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The advantages and disadvantages for each hand you wish to play are greatly related to your position. The farther your position is from the dealer’s button the greater your advantage. Your chances of success are improved because you get to assess the betting activity of the other players before you have to make a playing decision. Being able to see how other players are valuing their hands makes it much easier for you to consider how your hand is going to stack up. When people are betting their hands aggressively, you might decide to fold because they seem to have strong hands. However, when betting comes across a little limp-wristed, then you might decide to stay in the hand or even raise.
Conversely, an early table position reduces your advantage because you have to bet or fold before you get to see what your opponents are going to do. Essentially, the first person to act on a new hand has a harder time winning the pot. The authors of Professional No-Limit Hold’em, Volume One advise that “If you do not have position, your first (and second) instinct should be to fold.” (page 77).
The players with the small and big blinds receive a slight break on their poor positions during the opening round of betting. Because their blinds have already obligated them to put money in the pot, they get to act last on the very first round of betting. The player to the left of the big blind will go first. On subsequent rounds, however, the players with the blinds will have to act first.
My advice about how to take your position into account when assessing your hand is that the earlier your position the stronger your hand needs to be. So, if you have a super premium hand, then your weak position will not cause you as much adversity. However, if you are on the lower end of the premium hands or sub-premium hands and your position is early, then you may have to consider folding or only betting modestly. You might be able to limp in if no one raises you before the flop, but do not count on it. As you can see, if you are in a later and stronger position and you have a decent but not stellar hand like a pocket pair of deuces or threes, then you have a greater chance of betting it without anybody raising you because they have already acted.
Of course, from the advantage of your superior position if you are witnessing heavy action on the pot, you will still have to consider if your hand is realistically strong enough to play. Experienced opponents betting from an early position might have really good hands, so you still need to proceed thoughtfully. Overall, the earlier your position, the tighter you should play, and with a later position you can enjoy some room to maneuver and be more daring.
Another thing to note about position is that the players paying the big and small blinds have the worst positions. Despite this early and weak position, players of limit poker often feel compelled to play their hands during their blinds because they already have money out there. But in no-limit poker you should avoid the urge to defend your blinds. You will fold your blinds more often, but do not worry about it. Blinds are relatively insignificant to the size of the pots in no-limit poker.
Once you have learned to take your position into account every time, you will be able to leverage its power to your advantage. In Professional No-Limit Poker, Volume One the authors state that a player can even manage to steal a pot if his or her position is properly played. “If you have a good position and a flop is checked through to you, it suggests everyone missed their cards. So, you can likely take the pot by making a bet.” (page. 75). I totally agree with this point.
The concept of position cannot be emphasized enough. To become a successful player, you need to be constantly factoring in your position. Because the dealer button moves around the table, your advantages and disadvantages are constantly shifting.
