The Strategic Implications of Poker Positions
Because of its nature of being more of a strategic game than a chance-based game, poker lends its own mechanisms to strategic implications. For example, because players do not know what cards other players are holding, then one could win even if one has a weak hand, given the proper strategy. But perhaps the most essential mechanism that has strategic implications is position.
Position simply refers to the order of seating and playing in poker. Depending on where one is seated, some strategic considerations are present.
For example, players in the early position or those who are assigned to act first have the opportunity to dictate the tempo of the game. By playing passively or aggressively, then one could lead opponents into acting according to one's poker strategy.
Players in the late position or those who act last have the opportunity to weigh their options clearly because most of the players have already acted. Also, the last position is the most optimal position for the poker strategy of bluffing, since there is a possibility that earlier players fold, thus reducing the opponents one needs to intimidate into folding.
Here is an example of the strategic implications of position:
In an 8-player poker, if a player who is first to act (the one after the big blind) holds an Ace of Diamonds and Queen of Spades, they will most likely fold, since there are still five other players who might have better hands than them.
But say, if a player is in the cut-off position (the one before the button), and holds the same hand (Ace of Diamonds and Queen of Spades), then they could play their hand given that most of the earlier players fold. This is because there are only three more players that player needs to contend with: the player with the button, the small blind, and the big blind. This means that that player's hand has a higher probability of being the best hand.
Even if the hand of the player in the cut-off position does not improve, that player is in a good position to bluff, since there are fewer players they must intimidate into folding.
But also put into mind that position does not dictate one's capacity to win in poker. In our example, the player in the cut-off position could easily be suspected as bluffing, and therefore the remaining players could easily play aggressively in an attempt to break that player's bluff.
What is important is that one incorporates position into creating an effective poker strategy. Through using the implications of position along with an effective table-image, observation, and techniques like bluffing and slow playing, one would be sure to dominate the table.