PokerWorks

Your position in any game of Texas Hold'em is vital. By position, we mean your seating position in relation to the dealer button.

A player has position in relation to the players on his right, as it is his turn to act after them. At the same time, players to his left have position on him. The last person to act has position on the entire table, this is an extremely strong position to be in as you can already see the actions of the whole table before YOU decide to act.

Being last to act can often make a marginal hand, such as AJ un-suited, a very strong hand. Being first to act, known as “Under the gun” would make AJ un-suited much harder to play as the rest of the table have yet to make their bet.

Some things to be aware of at the table:
A player who hasn't played many hands suddenly raises under the gun. This means he more than likely has a very strong hand, unless you are holding a premium hand, get out of the pot.

A player who often raises when he has position on the entire table is probably trying to steal, if you notice this pattern it may be worth calling with a marginal hand or perhaps even trapping the raiser by slow playing a very big hand, waiting until he raises then re-raising him.

Always be aware of your position and the position of other players when you play, it is a vital aspect of Texas Hold'em.