Always
underestimated, positioning
in a poker game is vitally
important to high end game
players but can also apply
it those home neighbourhood
games. Good poker players
reveal the least about themselves
that they can and since that
is the way the game will progress
the goals alter. Winning the
game relies on the information
you are able to gather on
your opponent so you can better
call his or her bluffs and
strategic bids.
This means
that everything …everything… is
important to a poker player
during a game. The order in
which players are positioned
and the order in which they
make their bids or bets during
each hand help give substance
to the nothingness that can
be a harsh table.
Everyone is trying to hide
their true intents and what
they have each and every hand
however the order in which
people are sitting in can
give a predetermination to
their actions that can provide
itself to helping you understand
their calls. For one thing
those early seats, the first
three to the left of the big
blind are considered to be
the seats with the least advantage.
When you are in an early
position you have the least
information to work with,
especially if you are the
first person to call or bid.
This usually makes players
in this position play hands
that are very good and they
play them conservatively because
when you are in this situation
you cannot afford to lay down
big bets on low connectors.
The next three seats are considered
to the middle and they generally
start to play those hands
that could be considered less
than stellar. They can and
will play these hands especially
if the first three seats folded
because they will see the
weak hands and try to take
advantage of the situation.
This is where a lot of players
will begin considering trying
to pick up the blinds in tournaments
where the blinds can be a
hefty amount.
The last three seats are those
people with the most advantage
they have now had the chance
to see everyone represent
their hands in some way or
another. These players will
play anything if the other
players have folded or represented
their hands as weak, and this
can make a lot of money especially
in tournaments because picking
up the blinds late in a tournament
can really help. This blind
stealing is less of a concern
in cash games because the
blinds are static and traditionally
very low in comparison to
a full pot.
What needs to be kept in mind
is that the positioning is
another aspect of the poker
games that needs to be recognized
and analyzed against player’s
decisions to help understand them better. |
