Poker Strategy – How to Play Table Position

Table position is one of the most important factors of the poker table. Once you have begun developing your poker mindset and developed strict starting hand requirements it's time to organize your starting hand requirements based on table position.

We will start from under the gun (first to act or directly left of the big blind) and work our way around the table to the blinds. When playing hands under the gun you need to adhere to the toughest starting hand requirements you can. The reason behind this is that the entire table acts behind you and if you try to limp in with a weak hand there is a great chance there will be a raise and your marginal holding will have to be thrown away. You should only play raising hands in this position and the only time you should try to limp in from these positions is with a middle pocket pair and sometimes a big hand just to mix things up. The same applies for second position which is also included in early position.

In middle position, the players who act 3rd, 4th and 5th (at a table of ten), you can play a looser game but should still observe fairly tight requirements if you're a loose player feel free to play your normal hands here but try to play tighter than you would if you were on the button. You should only play raising hands and a few non-raising hands like low pocket pairs, fitted connectors, fitted face cards and other marginal hands. For most players the worst hand I probably play in middle position is 8-9s or J-8s. For a tight player the worst hand I'd recommend playing here would be a hand like J-10s or KQ.

In late position, the last two positions before the blinds including the button, play your loosest game here. Since you have information about most of the player's hands at the table you are able to deduce what types of hands you can get away with playing in this position. Feel free to play all pocket pairs and fitted connectors no worse than 7-6s. Any two face card combinations can also be played here without you following another advanced strategy on how to play these types of hands which can be found in my other articles and on my site.

The blinds feel free to play just about whatever you want since you've already put money into the pot however, do not call a raise with junk just because you have chips in the pot. Same thing applies for the small blind, do not just throw in another chip with garbage just because its half price because it will add up over time and you'll be wasting chips and getting yourself in trouble.

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Source by Matt Canei