Types of Plays: Position Plays
A position play is a bet made with the bettor’s and opponents’ position in mind. Position refers to a player’s turn on the table. Think of the poker table as a clock, and everyone on the table going in a clockwise circle. In most cases, the person to the left of the dealer begins and continues in a circle around the table.
When thinking of position plays, the importance on position is stressed, rather than focusing on the strength of the cards in the hand. Cards are important (obviously – it is a card game, after all), as are other factors such as observing face up cards, body language, and the number of cards left, etc. However the position of you and your opponents can be given a significant weight in determining your play style.
Position can give two significant advantages to a player late in the position. By playing late in the position you receive additional information unavailable to your opponents before you have to take any action. Players early in the position won’t have the advantage of later players and thus will make less informed decisions. For example, someone raises early in a round, you could assume that the early raisers have a good hand. They could be bluffing, but it’s usually very likely that they have a good hand. This is valuable information you can use to determine your action. Based on the information you receive you can either fold (if you think the cards are superior) or raise if you think you have a better hand.
Also, by being late in the position, other players will fold before your turn. This increases the probability of you having the better hand. For example, you can start the round with a one in six chance of having the better hand. But if two people fold, then you now have an increased one in four chance. This also decreases the total chance of the remaining players having a better hand than you. This could actually mean you continuing in a hand you originally were going to fold (perhaps using the position play to initiate a drawing play.)
Position can affect the plays made against you, as well. If there’s an aggressive, blind-stealing player to the right of you, then you’re in position to have your blinds stolen if you’re playing tight. So in this case, the position of having an aggressive play next to a player who folds resulted in a position play to steal the blind. Basically, be very aware of position.
