The poker positions is one of the first concepts you must comprehend to become a winning poker player. Understanding the different poker positions, from the early position to the button, each spot at the table significantly influences your strategy and decision-making process.

Mastering these positions at the table can transform your gameplay and give you a significant advantage over your opponents.

In this guide we’ll look into exactly how to play different positions, why your position at the poker table is important, the details and strategy of every position and how being positionally aware can make you a better poker player.

Importance of Position in Poker

Your position at the table fundamentally shapes your strategy and decision-making in the game. Thus, adjusting your strategy based on your table positions is a crucial part of becoming a winning poker player. The Button or the Dealer is considered the best position on the poker table as the player here gets to act last and has the following advantages:

1. Control Pot Size: Acting last on every street usually helps you control how big or small of a pot you end up playing. If you wish to play a small pot and an opponent checks, you can check behind, and if your opponent bets you can just call and close the action. Also, if you want to play a bigger pot, you can bet or raise it when the action is on you.

2. Better Bluffing Opportunities: The primary benefit of playing in position is that you get to see what everyone else does before making your decision. This allows you to study your opponents and gauge their general interest level in the hand. It’s much easier to bluff at a pot when you’ve already seen your opponent disinterestedly check on you. You’ll find that playing in position gives you lots of opportunities to steal pots from other players.

3. Ranging Opponent's Cards: As the last player to act, you have the advantage of observing how other players bet. This information helps you infer the strength of their hands. You can use the actions of players in earlier positions to narrow down their possible hand ranges. For instance, if an early position player raises, their range is likely tighter compared to someone who raises from the button. Observing these actions allows you to make more informed decisions and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Different Positions at the Poker Table

Most poker tables host anywhere from two to nine players, depending on the format and the game's circumstances. The most common tables are either six-handed poker tables or nine-handed poker tables, let's understand the different positions for a six-handed poker table:

1. Under The Gun (UTG): The player in this position acts first pre-flop and acts after Small Blind and Big Blind post-flop. The UTG is the worst position to be preflop because the player in this position has the least information of all players at the table. In most cases, he can only decide what to do with his hand based on the strength of his cards, which is why the UTG has the tightest range of all players at the table.

2. Hijack: The HJ is slightly better because the player in this position gets to see what early position players do before making decisions. On top of that, he has fewer opponents sitting after him, so he can finally start adding more off-suit hands with blockers into his opening range.

3. Cutoff: The CO is where things start to get interesting. This is a position where you actually start stealing blinds more aggressively since you only have one player left after you. If you manage to make BTN fold, you will be in position against the blinds throughout the hand and can control the action

4. Button: The BTN is the best position at the poker table. Not only does the player in this position have the privilege to see what the first three positions will do and adjust his play accordingly, but he also has the privilege of being the last player to act on each street after the flop. Because of this, the BTN has the widest range of all players at the table.

5. Small Blind: The player gets to act second last pre-flop but has the disadvantage of acting first on each street post-flop and is forced to put half a big blind into the pot before seeing the cards.

6. Big Blind: The player gets to act last pre-flop but has a huge disadvantage of putting the whole big blind before seeing the cards and is the second player to act on each street post-flop, making BB the worst position at the table post-flop.

When we move from a 6-handed to a 9-handed table, three extra positions are added after UTG called UTG +1, UTG +2 and Lowjack.

Strategy for the Early Positions at the Table

Playing from the Under the Gun (UTG) position is challenging due to the need to act before most of the other players, and the best strategy for these positions is to play a tight preflop range. When you’re in these positions, you have many players left to act behind you, meaning the chances of someone having a strong hand are high. To counter that, we play a tight range of strong hands in anticipation of at least one of our opponents also having a solid hand.

Focus on premium hands such as high pairs (e.g., AA, KK, QQ), high cards with suited connectors (e.g., AKs, AQs), and occasionally strong suited connectors (e.g., JTs, T9s) if the game dynamics and stack sizes allow.

Avoid Limping (just calling the big blind) from UTG as it weakens your hand strength and can lead to difficult post-flop situations. Instead, opt to raise if you are planning to enter the pot.

When you enter the pot from UTG with strong hands, you should continue with aggressive post-flop play to protect your hand and extract value. This includes betting and raising rather than just calling.

Strategy for the Middle Positions at the Table

Playing from the middle position (Hijack and Lowjack) at a poker table offers more flexibility compared to an early position. While you should still be selective, you can widen your hand range compared to UTG. You can start adding hands like suited connectors, and medium pocket pairs to your range. This is because you’ll have fewer players left to act after you compared to UTG, and you can exploit the potential for deeper post-flop play.

Play a moderately aggressive raising strategy with hands like medium pocket pairs (e.g., JJ, TT, 99, 88), Broadway hands ( e.g., KQs and KJs), a wider range of suited connectors (e.g., 98s, 87s) suited aces (e.g., A9s, A8s)

Continue with aggressive post-flop play with strong hands. You can also consider semi-bluffing with hands that have the potential to improve (e.g., flush draws, open-ended straight draws).

Strategy for Late Positions at the Table

Playing from late positions (Cutoff and Button) at a poker table offers significant strategic advantages. You have the benefit of acting after your opponents, which allows you to make more informed decisions.

Utilize the opportunity to be more aggressive, especially when it comes to stealing blinds or isolating weaker players. This aggression can include raising or even re-raising with a wider range of hands. Here, we include hands with high cards (e.g., Ax, Kx, Qx, Jx), all the suited connectors, and even some suited gap connectors (e.g., 96s, 85s)

Use Sem-Bluffing: Semi-bluffing is a strategy where you bet or raise with a hand that may not yet be the best but has the potential to improve to a strong hand. Unlike a pure bluff, which relies solely on the possibility that your opponent will fold, a semi-bluff gives you the potential to win the pot either by making your opponent fold or by improving your hand to the best hand.

Strategy for the Small and Big Blind Positions at the Table

For the Small Blind, due to the disadvantage of acting out of position post-flop, you should play a tighter range of hands from the Small Blind. Your goal is to avoid getting into difficult spots with weak hands and to defend the blind effectively. When facing a raise, you should generally 3-bet or fold depending on if you have a range of hands that can perform well post-flop.

For Big Blind, can play more of a call-heavy strategy. When defending against a steal attempt, you need to be more selective. Consider calling or re-raising with premium hands such as high pairs (e.g., AA, KK, QQ), Broadway hands (e.g., KQs, KJs) and suited connectors (e.g., JTs, T9s)