With Poker, Betting is All About Position

When an naive player takes a simple glance at a poker ring game, it might not look like rocket science when you check, bet, raise or even re-raise. After all, isn’t it the cards that dictate your action.

However, in a game such as poker where deceit is such an integral aspect of the game, there is a science to betting, raising and bluffing. While this article won’t make you a master poker pro, it will give you a basic idea of position and betting.

Playing Early Position

In poker position is everything.

When you are playing in early position or one of the first three spots, you have be very careful.      You could easily get too many chips in on the wrong hand.

Most players will only play top premium hands such as a pair of A’s, K’s or Q’s and nothing more. Others will take a stab with less valuable hands when the table and game proves it necessary.

When deciding to make a bet in early position, you have to consider that there are six to eight more players to your left that could raise you. That is why you would usually bet two to three times the blind. After all, if you have A’s and someone raises you, you just got a good clue about his hand and now have the flop to see how you and he improves.

With so many players playing after you in early position, betting small allows you to start understanding how strong your opposition is without over betting your hand.

Betting in Middle Position

If you are sitting in middle position (seats four, five or six) the picture of the hand has already been started to be painted for you.

If no one calls in front of you, you could easily bet three times the blind with a less than premium hand. After all you have only five other players to act behind you.

This doesn’t mean that you should bluff all the time in middle position. But you could easily call with a weaker hand to see a flop and not be married to the hand if one of the next players raise the pot too much for your less than stellar hand.

Betting In Late Position

Late position consists of the button (Dealer), small blind and big blind. A premium hand can be played with a raise of three to five times the blind. A bet like this now puts the decision on the players ahead of you that are remaining and provides you with more information. As always, the flop and the subsequent betting will provide you with even more insight to your opponents hand.

When you are playing in late position, you have the pleasure of seeing raises and determining if you are going to play your hand well before your turn. But you also have the luxury in playing less than premium hands and see if you hit anything on the flop. Of course this depends on the action ahead of you.

Whether you are playing a live game at the casino or an online poker sit and go, when it comes to action, it all about position.