They say the early bird catches the worm, but in poker, it’s often the early bird that ends up feeding the worms, so to speak. That’s because the player who acts first typically ends up being out of position (OOP), which limits their options and reduces their opportunities to maximize value.

Given that all poker players will find themselves out of position more often than in position, it’s a good idea to be as well prepared as possible. Take a closer look at how to act when you find yourself out of position when you’re playing online poker or live poker.

What Does “Out of Position” Mean in Poker?

To grasp what out of position means in poker, you need to have a basic understanding of why it’s a big deal to play in position. Most online poker tournaments and cash games will have six players at the table, who will be in early, middle, or late position, depending on when they will act postflop. The player in the final position — known as the button — is the very last to act after the flop, turn, and river in poker, which provides multiple advantages. The biggest of these is information about opponents’ hands. The ability to gauge whether you have the strongest hand compared to your opponents is invaluable, enabling you to extract value from weakness and get away cheaply if your hand is beaten.

Conversely, being in an early position comes with multiple risks. If you raise, you alert your opponents to the strength of your holdings, allowing them to react accordingly. A big danger is that players with strong hands will call your raise, growing the pot and putting you under pressure. This is why it’s generally agreed that the best approach to adopt if you’re out of position is to play it tight and only raise with the most powerful hands.

How To Think When Out of Position

According to poker boom legend Daniel Negreanu, the question of position is really quite simple: “There are two positions you can be in in a pot. You’re either in position or you’re out of position. When you’re in position, that means you get to go last. When you’re out of position, you know, you don’t know what’s going to happen behind you. You might get raised. You know, you might get bluffed. A whole bunch of bad things could happen.”

So what should your poker mindset be? Negreanu compares it to boxing. In position, you want to be the aggressor — the one who throws the punches and controls the situation in order to maximize profit. Out of position, you’ll want to be defensive and keep your guard up, sometimes concealing a strong hand to surprise your opponent. This is a clear example of positional disadvantage in poker, explained. In practice, this means folding more often against overly aggressive players. This idea is explored further in Playing Out of Position Poker.

Tips for Playing Out of Position

How does this advice work in practice if you want to improve your poker game? Say you’re playing the worst position there is: under the gun (UTG). As the very first player to act before the flop, your primary goal is to minimize risk and protect your chips. As a result, you have to tighten your range. 

Forget about speculative hands, such as 9-8 suited. It can be worth taking a chance to hit your draw when you’re in position, but under the gun, you’re throwing money away. The fact is that you simply don’t have the equity to enter too many pots. In general, it’s best to stick to the strongest hands. At a six-max table, these are strong suited connectors such as K-J and K-Q, pocket pairs from 5 on up, strong unsuited aces from A-K down to A-10, and strong suited aces from A-K down to A-8.

So what do you do with your strong hand when you’re playing UTG? Open raise. If you’re lucky, your opponents will fold, and you’ll pick up the blinds. If they call, you get to see the flop. But what if they 3-bet? With the very strongest hands, you should call to see the flop or 4-bet to grow the pot. Otherwise, consider folding. After all, your open raise from UTG is telling your opponents that you have a very strong hand, so if they push back with a 3-bet, their holdings are likely to be very strong, too.

Postflop, when you’re the preflop aggressor, consider that the preflop callers probably don’t have the greatest hand strength after seeing the community cards, so you can act aggressively towards them if the flop is agreeable. Chances are they’ll call (again allowing you to grow the pot) or fold. Be on your guard against opponents who continue to 3-bet against you. Call if you’re confident your hand is strong enough to see you through to later streets; otherwise, fold. If things work out in your favor, your aggressive poker opponent will build a big pot for you to take down with a raise.

Another useful guideline when playing out of position is to check most of your range postflop when you’re the preflop caller. This avoids revealing too much information about your hand’s strength and allows you to see your opponent’s reaction before putting more chips in the pot. Occasionally, you can lead, but it’s better used selectively in very specific situations. When you have a strong holding, going for a check-raise is often the better option.

Using Tight Ranges When OOP

As you can see, playing out of position requires playing tighter. Only open with strong holdings, since you’ll be the first to act postflop. When playing looser poker ranges, the chances of getting involved in tough spots increase, especially against players who act last. A tighter range helps you avoid difficult decisions, maintain better control of your hand, and reduce the risk of exploitation.

Controlling the Pot With Caution

Another important thing to consider when playing out of position is the pot size.

Without the advantage of being the last to act, large pots can turn into difficult decisions on later streets. Understanding how pot control out of position works can help players avoid committing too many chips with marginal hands. Many of the common mistakes players make playing poker out of position come from inflating the pot without enough information.

Being Selective With Bluffing

Bluffing can be part of your strategy when playing OOP, but you should be more careful. When there are players left to act, they have more information to decide whether to call or raise. Poor bluffs can quickly torch your stack and turn into costly mistakes. Sometimes you can use moves like check-raises to apply more pressure, but choosing the right moment when the story makes sense is essential when bluffing out of position.

Play Poker Online at BetMGM 

There’s only one way to improve your standing in poker, and that’s to play as many poker online games as your planned bankroll, schedule, and commitments will allow. That’s the beauty of BetMGM; you can join in cash games and poker tournaments at any time and on any device, too (thanks to the mobile app).

Whether you’re a veteran of the virtual felt or just learning how to play poker for the first time, you’ll find your place in the growing online community. Limit, No-Limit, and Pot-Limit Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and Seven-Card Stud are all available for you to enjoy, with table stakes and buy-ins to suit every budget. 

Away from the physical poker table, you can play online poker with real money and discover a broad range of top-rated online BetMGM casino games, from slots to live dealer blackjack, craps, roulette, and baccarat. To explore this world of entertainment and claim your online poker welcome bonus, simply register at BetMGM.