Positional Poker (Part I)
David Williams explains why the hands you play in position should outweigh the number of hands you play out of position
Aug. 29, 2008
By David Williams
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer
One reason poker players are learning the game online and then becoming absolute monsters at the tables (both online and live) is because they have endless resources to help them succeed at the game. One of my online friends recently showed me his poker stats on a popular program that can break down mistakes in your game.
He noticed that the stats told him he was winning the same amount of money out of position that he was winning in position. This should immediately tell a player that they are playing too loose out of position, and if my friend still showed a small profit, then he was actually leaving money on the table. If he could tighten up his starting hand requirements out of position, his profit would be much greater. Essentially, the hands you play in position should far outweigh the number of hands you play out of position.
Playing out of position in poker is just making the game harder than it has to be. If you have a good read of the players on your table, great. Out of position, you need a better read, much better.
The classic example of why playing out of position in Holdem is dangerous to your bankroll is what the online poker world calls TPTK, or top pair, top kicker.
Playing in position could have you walking away with the most chips.
You’re in a $1-$2 No Limit cash game, and you find the A-K offsuit under the gun.
You make it $6 to go, the button calls and the flop comes down A-5-9 rainbow suits. You bet out between $10-$12 into the $15 pot, and the button raises you to $30-$36.
The button could be using his positional advantage against you, or, your first thought is, he could have a set of 5s or 9s.
Regardless of how this particular hand plays out, you can’t love your spot when you get raised out of position, even though you flopped a seemingly strong hand. The information you don’t have is far greater than the information you do have in this spot. You can’t fold yet, but it looks like a big pot is going to be played, and whether you have the best of it or not, you are in the dark as to where you stand. So during the rest of the hand, you are forced to play it defensively.
Of course, this does not mean you should stop playing A-K offsuit under the gun. What it does mean is that you have to be more focused on how your opponents react to people out of position. If you know an aggressive player behind you is raising frequent continuation bets on the flop, then remember that and hope that you get to see one go to showdown so you can see how light or strong the aggressive player was raising.
If a player often calls bets on the flop and then gets aggressive on the turn, then that player might be addicted to floating, or calling the flop with nothing to bluff bet on the turn.
You must study your opponents. If there are too many aggressive players punishing your out-of-position raises, then you need to adjust and know to open in early position with stronger hands. Pay attention to the way different players react to different things when you bet or raise out of position. Soon you will be able to pick out the players that are good enough to recognize the big advantage that being in position is for them. Next time, we’ll take a look at what it means to be on the opposite side of the table and learn how to pick apart those players out of position.
