New players in poker often ask one question: Why is position important in poker? They hear poker terminology like the button, blinds, under the gun, and hijack, and they know these positions are significant. But why?

Understanding the importance of poker table positions is crucial during poker tournaments, where you can face upwards of 100 players during a single tournament. Poker table positions in cash games are just as important, as every hand changes the positions around a poker table and, thus, the strategy for betting and making good decisions. For new and experienced players alike, this entails facing players of all skill levels while adjusting their poker strategy to unpredictable players. 

Players’ positions around a poker table should have the same influence on their strategy as the cards in their hands. For instance, if you’re holding a strong hand such as pocket aces as the small blind—which is regarded as the weakest position—the round becomes harder to control as you’re the first player to bet each round after the flop. In other words, being in an early position allows opponents to evaluate your moves and strategize accordingly, exposing you to late-position players.

Read on as we discuss the importance and fundamentals of poker positions.

What Are Poker Positions

After getting to know the basic rules and hand rankings, understanding the relevance of each poker table position should be next on your list of things to master. So, what is a table position in poker? Simply put, your position is your seat at the table relative to the blinds (small and big blind) and the dealer button.

First, let’s learn the poker position names and their common abbreviations, moving clockwise around a nine-handed table:

• Small blind (SB)
• Big blind (BB)
• Under the gun (UTG)
• UTG+1
• UTG+2
• Lojack (LJ)
• Hijack (HJ)
• Cutoff
• Button

Note that a table with only six players (6-max), for example, will eliminate some positions, such as UTG+1 and UTG+2, and lojack.

Second, let’s categorize the poker positions explained into the most frequently used categories in analysis, strategy, and even simple table discussions.

• Early position: UTG, UTG+1, UTG+2
• Middle position: lojack, hijack
• Late position: cutoff, button

Some analysts may include UTG+2 (or the added UTG+3 at a 10-handed table) in middle position and hijack in late position. These are somewhat flexible in many poker discussions, which will become clearer as you see how they relate to flop, turn, and river cards in poker.

Why Position Matters in Poker

The position at which you are seated in any given hand at the poker table determines your betting position, which has a tremendous influence on how you should play and how your opponents will play back at you.

Before the flop, betting begins with early position players, starting with UTG, and moves around to the button, then the small blind and big blind. Technically, since the players in the blinds had to post their bets before the hand started, they acted first, but they will complete the betting upon seeing their hole cards.

After the flop, the small blind is the first to act. At first glance, that might appear to be positive, but, in fact, it is the opposite and is considered playing out of position. All eyes are on that player, the one who must check or bet, setting the precedent for the other players. 

As the first to act, that player has no opportunity to gauge opponents’ strengths or weaknesses from their actions, much less to implement deeper strategies, such as those for polarized versus linear ranges in poker. 

Early Positions

Let’s go back to early positions, which include the under-the-gun (UTG) player and the one or two who may follow at a full-ring table. Being among the first players to check or bet sets the tone for the hand. For example, a check may prompt others to check around after you, or your bet may persuade an opponent to raise, building a pot that you must then decide if you still want to pursue.

Other positions have the advantage over early position players, as they may be able to gauge the strength or weakness of your hand and act accordingly.  This makes early poker position strategy all the more important to study to handle this difficult spot effectively.

Once a new card is dealt, you’re one of the first to respond. Early positions are considered the trickiest spots to win from. In general, the rule of thumb is to play with tighter hand ranges and refrain from engaging in aggressive bets. 

It’s best to slow play through checks or small bets in order to let the late-position players make the emphatic bets. This will give you an additional opportunity to extract more information based on their betting behavior.

Middle Positions

Here, you’re positioned in the middle of the action. You start to gain the advantage of being in a later position, even though that advantage remains limited by the fact that other players will still be playing after you. 

The added benefit of seeing the early position players’ bets means you’re able to loosen your hand range slightly. And in cases where you’re holding a strong hand, both lojack and hijack are in great positions to stay under the radar by calling the bets of the opposition. Otherwise, if you’re the first to stake big, you’ll automatically gain the table’s attention, and your next few moves will be heavily analyzed.

Focusing on the postflop, if late position players fold, middle poker position strategy indicates an opportunity to be more aggressive and control the pot as they become the last to bet.

Late Positions

Similarly to the middle, the late positions are divided into two seats: the cutoff and the button. Statistically, in the course of your online poker career, you’ll make most of your winnings in either of these two positions. Using a late position poker strategy, you can gather the most information on your opponents and the community cards.

For example, if you notice a player who folds regularly (and raises the pot in the process), it suggests that they’re holding a strong hand since they rarely bluff. This, then, is the main advantage of sitting in the cutoff or button position: you’re able to pick up on these informational clues, gain full knowledge of your opponents’ behavior, and use what you know to make the best decision possible.

As strong as sitting in the cutoff may be, the button in poker is regarded as the best position because it has the last call of each betting round. Still, both positions have the ability to maximize the advantage of being in a favorable position.

For instance, your influence on pot control becomes much stronger in the late positions as you’re (usually) able to dictate how big or small the pot will be going into the next round. Also, if the round has gone stagnant with checks and small bets, you’re in a great position to bet big, scare off opponents, and steal the pot.

Finally, late-position players have the advantage of more bluffing opportunities since they have the most time to analyze the community cards relative to the bets being made. 

Playing From the Button

Playing from the button means that you get to act last on every betting round after the flop. The advantages of the button position cannot be underestimated or understated. If you have the strongest hand, your opponents will have to act before you, revealing the strength of their holdings and setting you up to extract more post-flop profit than you would be able to in an earlier position. Conversely, an opponent with a hand that beats yours will be hard-pressed not to give this information away when they have to act before you post-flop—unless they’re extremely crafty, which should remind you to always be prepared to adjust your strategy to unpredictable players. The advantage here is that you can get away from a beaten hand more cheaply from the button than from any other position.

The advantage of being the last to act after the flop is so considerable that players will often try to “buy the button” during the pre-flop betting round. This comes down to making raises with speculative poker hands calculated to drive out any players seated between them and the button, button included. This, then, makes them the first player to act on every future street, effectively passing the button to them. 

Strong Hands and Position

Position also matters when you’re dealt bigger cards like ace-king or a premium pocket pair. These hands are also favored against fewer opponents. Here, the idea is to raise from any position in a bid to reduce the field and drive out speculative hands, such as nine-eight suited, which need multiple opponents and a low cost to be viable. A third of the time, you’ll flop an ace, a king, or a better hand if you play ace-king. But if you reduce the field to only one or two callers, you can miss the flop completely and still have the strongest hand because your opponents might miss it, too. Against five or more opponents, the odds that the flop you missed will help them are much greater.

Playing strong hands from advantageous positions is an ideal way to make the most of your position as well as to pick up pots when other players miss their draws.

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For seasoned competitors, understanding poker positions is crucial. We dissect each position and explain the importance of poker table positions.