“Position” is something you’ll hear pretty often at the Hold’em table. Trust us, the other players do not want to know what your opinion on offshore drilling is. What they’re looking for is where you’re sitting in relation to the “dealer” (i.e. the player sitting with a big, white disk in front of him that has the word “dealer” printed on it). So, what’s your position? It makes a difference because it affects the way you play the game. Here’s why: in Hold’em, the betting moves around the table clockwise. If you’re sitting to the button’s immediate right, you’re almost the last player to bet. That puts you in a strong position. You get to see the moves all the other players make before you have to react yourself.

For those with type-A personalities (and other hard-asses), the idea of having to play any spot but the dealer’s really rubs them the wrong way. And cramp our style as they might, they’re right. In Hold’em, reacting is much better than acting. That’s why you want the strong, or “late,” position—because you get to see all the other players fold, bet or call before you have to decide what you’re going to do. You can even manipulate the size of the pot from a late position if you decide to force other players to call more than one bet. That’s power, baby, and that’s the advantage to being in a strong position.

So, now, say you’re about to sit down at a table and to play a few hands. You notice the dealer’s button, but – darn it – someone’s already sitting in the late position. Oh well, I guess you should just take any empty chair now, right? Wrong. As the Kama Sutra vividly illustrates, there’s more than just one position we need to think about. If the button and the late position are the two strongest positions at the Hold’em table, the small and the big blinds are the two weakest. Do you really want to start there? Probably not. In Hold’em, the small and the big blinds are the first two positions to the immediate left of the dealer’s button. And in Hold’em, guess who has to start the action? You got it: the blinds. If you’re either the Little or Big Blind, you’ll have to put money into the pot even before the cards are dealt. That can put you in a hole right away. Plus, you’ll have to make the first bet after the Flop potentially giving other players an idea of what cards you’re holding. All in all, then, being a blind is like being the 20-foot-tall woman’s whipping boy, even for an experienced player. Avoid it when you first sit down if you can.

Of course, sometimes it’s not up to you whether you’re a blind or not because some casinos require you to fill the spot when you first sit down. And, while it’s kind of a drag, it’s also understandable. After all, “If ya’s wants to see the ‘da show, ya’s gots ta buy da ticket.” Other places have players draw for position. In those cases, usually the highest card earns the dealer’s button first, and the players to his immediate left start as the blinds. Drawing for position is fair, but there’s no way you can control it. You just have to go with the flow in that case. Still other places do allow you to pick your seat as long as you can meet the table’s minimum buy-in. In the end, check the house rules on joining a table when you go trolling for games.

-Jim Abrahamsson

Related pages

Users comments